Inula 



with vinegar. The plant is worth growing in rough 

 places for the sake of its large leaves and bold com- 

 posite heads of yellow blossom, but it goes ragged 

 rather early. 



Flower, July and August. 

 Italian name, Elenio. 



Juncus. 



' limoso . . . palus obducat pascua iunco ' {Ec. i. 49). 

 ' aiiquid . . . quorum indiget usus | viminibus mollique 

 paras detexere iunco' (Ec. ii. 71). 



Under this name are included our common plait- 

 ing rushes, Juncus effusus and J. conglomeratus, and 

 probably other species. Both kinds are too common 

 in the marshy lands round Mantova, and, although 

 the first Eclogue gives us a deliberate confusion of 

 Cisalpine and Sicilian scenery, it is probable that 

 Virgil's father had to fight against a w 7 eed which 

 cattle will not eat. In the passage of Theocritus 

 which Virgil follows the rushes are woven into 

 baskets. They were also used for making ropes, 

 the use of hemp fibre being unknown. Larger ropes 

 were made of flax. 



Flower, June and July. 

 Italian name, Giunco. 



Juniperus. 



' stant et iuniperi ' (Ec. vii. 53). 

 ' iuniperi gravis umbra' [Ec. x. 76). 



The common juniper (Juniperus communis), as it 

 grows on the South Downs, is a somewhat scrubby 



63 



