Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of Virgil 



suffer less from this treatment. They were cooked 

 and eaten like spinach. 



Flower, May and June. 

 Italian names. See above. 



Ruscus. 



■ ' horridior rusco ' {Ec. vii. 42). 

 ' aspera rusci | vimina ' {Ge. ii. 413). 



The butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus) is occa- 

 sionally wild in southern England, and large patches 

 of it may often be seen on the hills above the Italian 

 lakes. Its flowers and red berries, like those of 

 asparagus, grow on branches which have taken the 

 shape of leaves. Though it dies down every year, 

 its growth is shrubby, and the sharp spines explain 

 Virgil's epithets. In Italy it is still used for making 

 brooms. It can hardly have made good withies for 

 tying up vines, though Virgil seems to imply that it 

 was used for this purpose. 



Flower, February. 

 Italian name, Pungi-topo. 



RUTA. 



'rutam . . . rigentem' (Mor. 89). 



Rue, or the herb of grace (Ruta graveolens), is not 

 a common plant in any part of Italy. It was, how- 

 ever, cultivated, and seems to have played the part 

 which parsley plays with us. Thus it was used to 

 flavour soups and other dishes, and to garnish eggs 



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