of Plinies Naturall Hiftofie. 84 
A was, asnamely Violets. A freth and new gathered rofe cafteth a better fmell afar off than nearé 
~ athand; letit befomewhat withered and drie, you fhallfent it better at the nofe than farther off. 
Generally, all floures be more odoriferous and pleafant in the Spring, than at any otherfeafon 
of the yeare; and ina morning they havea quickerand more piercing fent, thanat any houre 
of the day befides :the nearer tonoone,the weaker is the {mell of any hearbe or floure. Moreo- 
ver,the floures of new plants are nothing fo {weet as thofe of an old {tocke :and yer muft needs 
fay, that floures finell ftrongeft in the mids of Summer. As for Rofes and Saffron-floures, they 
caft the pleafanter{mell, if they be gathered in cleare weather, when itis faire & drie above head : 
and in one word, fuch as growin hot countries, bee ever fweeter to fmell unto, than ine}, cli- 
mats. Howbeit, in gypt the floures have no good fentat all, by reafonthat the aire ,. 
B and miftie, with the dewes rifing from the river Nilus. Moreover, certain floures there be which 
are fweet and pleafant enough, yet they ftuffe and fill the head, Others, folong as they be freth 
and green, have no {mell at all, for the exceflive abundance of moifture within them ;as we may 
perceive in Fenigrecke, which the Grecians call Buceros, Many floures eafta quicke and lively 
fiell,& yet are not without good ftore of juice but moiftenough,as Violets,Rofes,and Saffron: 
burt fch asaredeftitute of {uch moifture, and yer their fent is piercing and penetrant, they all of 
them be of a {trong favour alfo,as for example the Lillie of both kinds: Sothernwood and Mar- 
jeram havea hot and {trong favour. Some hearbs there be which yeeld no {mell nor goodnefic 
at all, butin their floure onely, for all their other parts be dulland good for nothing, as Violets 
and Rofes. Of garden hearbs, the ftrongeft of imell be alwaies drie, as Rue, Mints, and Ach of 
C Parfley : likew:leare all fuch as grow in drie places. Some fruits,the elder they bee and the loné 
ger kept,the fweeter 1s their favor,as Quinces : and the fame Quinces ae gard {mell better when 
they be gathered, thanif they hung {till upon the tree, and fo preferved. Others there are, thae 
unlefle they be broken, bruifed;rubbed,and crufhed,haveno {mell: and ye thal] have thofe thae 
caftnofent at all, unlefle theirrind or barke be taken off :asalfo fuch,as except they be caftinto 
the fize and burnt, yeeld no favour, as Frankincenfe and Myrrhe. Furthermore, all floures being 
bruifed, are more bitter than they were untouched and unhandled. Some, atter they be drie, re- 
teine their odour longeft, as the Melilot. There are that make the place more {weet where they . 
grow,as the flour-de lissinfomuch as it perfumeth the whole tree(whatfoever itis) the roots wher- 
of it roucheth. The hearbe Hefperis fmelleth more by night than day, wherupon that name was 
D aeviled. * Phere are no living creatures which yecld from their bodies afwect favour, unlefle we *prinieaevet 
give creditto that which hatli been reported of the Panthers. cece nate 
Furthermore,this would not bepaffed over, as touching the difference of odoriferous plants jo; cacr-cats 
and their fours in this refpeG:that many of them are never emploiedcto the making of guirlands in thefe daics. 
and chaplets,as namely the Floure-de-lis,and Nard Celticke, Saliunca, which nowithitanding 
they yceld both of them an excellent favour, yet are not uied that way. Butas for the* Flourt- * Commonly 
de-lis, itis the root onely thereof thatiscomtortable for the odour; as if Nature had made the ‘alled sreor, 
plantitfelfeto ferve only for Phyfick ufes,and compofitions of {weet perfumes. [he beft Floure- 
de-lisis that which groweth in Iiyricum or Sclavonia; and notin all parts thereof, nor (I fay)in 
the maritime coatts, but farther up intothe maine, among the mountains and foirefis of Drilo 
E and Narona. Thevextto itin goodnefie,commeth out of Macedonie, and ithath the longeft 
root of all others, bat {lender withall and whitith, In the third placeis to be raunged the Floure- 
de-lisof Africke or Barbarie :which, as iris the biggelt in hand, fois it the bittereft alfo in taft, 
Astouching the lilyrian Ireos,there be two forts of 1¢; namely, Rhaphanitis,which is the better 
of the twain, fo called for the refemblance thatit hathto the Radifhroot : the fecond they name 
Rhizotomos, and it is fomewhat reddsfh.infumme,the beft Ireos,ifa man doe but touch itjwill 
provoke fnecfing. The ftem of the Floure-de-lis gtoweth ftreight and upright,to the heigth of a 
cubit. The floure is of divers colours, like as we {ec in the rainbow,whereupon it tookethe name 
Iris. The lreos of Pilidiais norrejected, but held to be very good. Moreover, they ufe in Sclavo- 
F Mato be very ceremonions in digging up the root of Flour-de-lis ; for three months beforethey 
purpofeto take it foorth of the ground, the manner is to poure mead or honeyed water round 
about the root in the place where it groweth, having beforehand drawnea threcfold circle with a 
{words pointsas it were to currie favour with the Earth,and make fome fatisfaction for breaking 
it up and robbing her of fo noble a plant: and no fooneris it forth of the ground, but prefently 
they hold it up aloft teward heaven. This root is of a fervent and caufticke nature, for in the very 
I yj hand- 
