98 ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



of the same species as 0. pumilv/m. In this case the 

 oldest name being G. Endivia, it is the one which ought 

 to be retained, as has been done by Schultz. It resembles, 

 moreover, a popular name common to several languages. 



The wild plant exists in the whole region, of which 

 the Mediterranean is the centre, from Madeira,^ Marocco,^ 

 and Algeria,* as far as Palestine,* the Caucasus, and 

 Turkestan.^ It is very common in the islands of the 

 Mediterranean and in Greece. Towards the west, in 

 Spain and Madeira, for instance, it is probable that it has 

 become naturalized from cultivation, judging from the 

 positions it occupies in the fields and by the wayside. 



No positive proof is found in ancient authors of the 

 use of this plant by the Greeks and Romans ; * but it 

 is probable that they made use of it and several other 

 Cichoria. The common names tell us nothing, since' they 

 may have been applied to two different species. These 

 names vary little,' and suggest a cultivation of Graeco- 

 ,Iloman origin. A Hindu name, kasni, and a Tamul one, 

 Jcoschi,^ are mentioned, but no Sanskrit name, and this 

 indicates that the cultivation of this plant was of late 

 origin in the east. 



Spinach — Spinacia oleracea, Linnsens. 



This vegetable was unknown to the Greeks and 

 Romans.' It was new to Europe in the sixteenth centuiy,'" 

 and it has been a matter of dispute whether it should be 

 called spanacha, as coming from Spain, or spinacia, from 

 its prickly fruit.^^ It was afterwards shown that the 

 name comes from the Arabic isfdnddsch, eshamich,>or 

 sepanach, according to different authors.-'^ The Persian 



' Lowe, Flora of Madeira, p. 521. ' Ball, Spieilegiwm, p. 534. 



" Mnnby, Catal., edit. 2, p. 21. * Boissier, M. Orient, iii. p. 716. 



' Bnnge, Beitrage zur Flora Biusslands und Central Asiens, p. 197. 



° Lenz, liot. der Alien, p. 483 ; Heldreich, Die Nutipflanzen Qriechen 

 lands, p. 74. 



' >Jemnich, Polygl. Lex., at the word Cichorivm Endivia. 



' Royle, m. Himal., p. 247 ! Piddington, Index. 



' J. Banhin, Hist,, ii. p. 964; Fraas, Syn, Fl. Class.; Lenz, Botder 

 Alien. ' - 



" Brassarola, p. 176. " Mathioli, ed Valgr., p. 343. 



" Ebn Baithar, neberitz von Sondtheimer, i. p. 34; Forskal, Egypt, 

 p. 77; Delile, III. JEgypt, p. 29. 



