Nasturtium 



Nasturtium. 



' trahunt acri voltus nasturtia morsu ' (Mor. 84). 



Cress (Lepidium sativum) is an Egyptian plant 

 which came early into cultivation for use in salads. 

 Its name it got from the pungency which twists the 

 nostril. We avoid an excess of pungency by eating 

 the plant in a young state. 



Flower, spring and summer. 

 Italian name, Crescione. 



Nux. 



' contemplator item cum nux se plurima silvis 

 induet in florem et ramos curvabit olentes ' (Ge. i. 187). 

 ' sparge, marite, nuces' (Ec. viii. 31). 



It is evident from many passages, and Macrobius 

 expressly tells us that ' nux ' as the name of a fruit 

 applied to any that had hard shells. As the name 

 of a tree it stands with a qualifying adjective for 

 several species, but used without an epithet it means 

 the walnut (Juglans regia), still in Italy called noce. 

 The Greeks recognized that the tree was of Persian 

 origin, but it must have been early in cultivation, 

 and the Roman name of ' iuglans,' which is ' Iovis 

 glans,' Jove's acorn, like ' Iuniperus,' which is Juno's 

 pear, must have been an early formation. 



The flowers of the walnut are unisexual, the male 

 in catkins and the female in clusters. Virgil's 

 ' ramos curvabit ' picturesquely describes the droop- 

 ing catkins. The strong scent which he mentions 

 is said by Pliny to strike into the very brain of who- 



85 



