Salix and Siler 



were and are used to support the vines, and amid 

 these Gallus desired to lie : 



' mecura inter salices lenta sub vite iaceret ' (Ec. x. 40) . 



The willow which Menalcas avows to be less 

 beautiful than the olive was probably the white 

 willow (S. alba), which, however, greatly exceeds 

 the olive in stature and, as some may think, in 

 beauty. 



Goats feed on the leaves of various willows and 

 bees go to the flowers for honey. Virgil knew them 

 as hedge plants (Ge. ii. 434). Shields in old days had 

 been made of wicker-work, and the wood made the 

 sickle of Priapus (Ge. iv. no). Virgil's references 

 to ties and withies are numerous, and our nursery- 

 men still use several willows for this purpose. 



It is impossible to identify ' siler.' It is a tree or 

 shrub of wet places, and probably some willow. 



Flower, spring. 



Italian names : Salcio rosso (S. purpurea) ; 



Salcio da pertiche (S. 



alba). 



Sardonia Herba. 



' Sardoniis . . . amarior herbis ' (Ec. vii. 41). 



Of all the crowfoots none is more acrid than 

 Ranunculus sceleratus, which is held to be the plant 

 here indicated, though, so far from being confined to 

 Sardinia, it is common in wet places throughout 

 Italy, as it is with us. The mere handling of the 

 plant will cause irritation of the skin. 



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