Serpyllum 



Serpyllum. 



' olentia late | serpylla ' {Ge. iv. 30). 



The common form of thyme (Thymus serpyllum) 

 is confined to the higher lands in Italy, but the 

 narrow-leaved variety comes somewhat lower down. 

 The plant is Shakespeare's wild thyme, and Milton 

 makes it grow, as it mighty on the rocks above a 

 desert cave or grotto. Virgil names it as a bee 

 plant, and the leaves are braised with garlic for the 

 reaper's midday meal. 



For garden thyme, which is not a native of Eng- 

 land, see Thymum. 



Flower, May to September. 

 Italian name, Pepolino. 



SORBUS. 



' fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis ' (Ge. iii. 380). 



There can be no doubt that the passage refers to 

 some kind of beer and some kind of cider, and it 

 has been inferred that both liquors were made in 

 Italy. But Virgil is speaking of Scythians, and a 

 juster inference would be that these liquors were not 

 made in Italy, and that Virgil had heard of them 

 through travellers. At a later date they were made 

 in Italy. 



The service-tree (Pyrus sorbus) is much like the 

 rowan or mountain ash, but the berries are larger. 

 The fruit is too austere to be eaten until it has been 

 bletted like a medlar, and become brown and soft. 

 It would seem that the Romans had not discovered 



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