PLANTS OF GREECE. 



241 



ment in some of the Greek churches. In Zante they have the 

 following distich alluding to this custom. 



Xcoplg l<re 3lv yiverai kuvevcc Trccvviyvpi, 



Rubus fruticosus, Bare?. The fruit Mow pa is eaten in Greece. When 

 it is plentiful, it is a sign of a good harvest. In Zante, a syrup is 

 made from the fruit, called paropopavrffia, and is given in affections 

 of the fauces. From it also a purple colour is drawn. 



23. Ficus Carica, c-wiu in Laconia; the flowers of the wild fig 

 Ipivog are still used for the caprification of the cultivated fig, in various 

 parts of Greece. 



24. Typha latifolia, tydQi. The stem and leaves are brought from 

 the Lake of Marathon, and sold at Athens for the purpose of being 

 made into mats. 



25. Carex Riparia, Ma%a/p/r<. The name is taken from the sharp 

 edges, and forms of the leaves. I saw a quantity of this Carex cut to 

 serve as the covering for the bee-hives at Pendeli. 



26. Arundo Donax, jtdxupo. A very important plant for various 

 economical uses, and particularly for the employment of it in wicker- 



Notes by the Editor. 



23. The ancient word for this practice is avxxtyw, which is explained by tu epiva 

 <rv\\eyeiv kit) nepictproiv. See Pollux. I. p. 143. The custom is mentioned in Aristotle, 

 H. An. Lib. v. c. 26. 



" At Athens," says Mr. Hawkins, " they take the wild figs (opvot) in June, when the 

 insect shews itself in them, string a few and suspend them on the branches of the domestic 

 fig tree, without which it is believed all the fruit would drop. They also engraft a shoot 

 or two of the wild fig tree on the domestic sort, which answers the same purpose. The 

 caprification of figs is practised in Santorini nearly in the manner described by Tourne- 

 fort, except that the term opivea. must be substituted for that of opvoj; and the following 

 particulars should be added. The ophect fructifies first in December and January, when 

 it produces the Prodotes, and, secondly, in March, when it produces the Lates, both which 

 are used for caprifying." 



24. Tup>) of Theophr. His. i. 8. and Ulva palustris of Virgil. Sprengel. 



26. The 8ov«£ of Homer and Diosc. Sprengel. 159. Mr. Hawkins observed near the 

 lake Copais the reeds, of which the flutes are made, and saw a herdsman playing on one 

 of them. It was formed of the Arundo D. and called fko'ikp&si 



I I 



