Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of Virgil 



ward's calculation that a thistle three years old 

 might have five hundred and seventy-six million 

 grandchildren. 



Another candidate is Centaurea solstitialis, St. 

 Barnaby's thistle, a yellow -flowered annual very 

 common in Italian cornfields. It is occasionally 

 found in England, where the seeds have been intro- 

 duced with those of lucerne. This, however, seems 

 to be ' Tribulus,' q.v. 



Pliny and other later writers give the name of 

 ' carduus ' to the esculent cardoon (Cynara cardun- 

 culus). 



Flower, summer. 



Italian names : Astone (Carduus). 



Spino giallo (Centaurea). 



Carex. 



' carice pastus acuta ' {Ge. iii. 231). 

 ' tu post carecta latebas ' {Ec. iii. 20). 



Possibly several of the larger sedges are included 

 in this name, but the best claim to be Virgil's plant 

 is owned by that which still bears the names of 

 ' carice ' and ' caretta.' This is Carex acuta, which 

 is common in Italy and its islands. The flowering 

 stems are some three feet long, and the leaves equal 

 them. It is rather common on the Thames and 

 other English rivers, and, as Virgil implies, no satis- 

 factory food for cattle. 



Flower, April and May. 



Italian names, Carice, Caretto, and Nocca. 



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