50 



An Account of Plants, fyc. 



the stem variegated like tortoise shell. I have called it 

 Dracunculus, though I am not sure of its being that species. 

 I transplanted it into the Palace garden in Pera, where it 

 is now beginning to appear. I suspect it is the Apaxonw 



peyuXov of DlOSCORIDES.* 



Ferula 



This large species of Ferula attains the height of eight feet, 

 and covers the islands of the sea of Marmora like a forest of 

 young trees. It is certainly the N«p^£ of DioscoRiDEs,f and 

 the Ferula of Pliny ;J the plant so well known, and so 

 famous among the ancients. Its size, levity, inflammability, 

 exuding a milky juice, &c. accord exactly with Pliny's 

 description, and Tournefort's amplification. 



Phytolacca Decandra. 

 This plant seems to have been introduced into this country 

 from America along with Tobacco ; but it has now so accom- 

 modated itself to the soil, that it grows in all humid situations 

 about the Bosphorus. The berries yield a rich purple juice, 

 which was formerly used to colour red wine, but is now con- 

 fined to Sherbet sugar, which the Turks manufacture of a 

 rich red colour. 



Cyperua Esculentus. 

 This is sold in the markets of Constantinople, being called 

 by the Turks Abdel assis, and by the Greeks Mavm. It is 

 eaten raw, or made into a kind of conserve. The tuberous 



* Lib. ii. cap. I9& 



+ Lib. iii. cap. <)1. 



% Hist. Nat. Lib. xiii. tap. 



