Lib. i. 
Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
ther Icafc, but onely from the fruit downwards, whereas it is fomewhat thicker, and not fa brotd 
. but almoft triangular. The floure is a long thing refembling the Catf-tailes which mow on H •- 
fch ■ it is about the thicknefle of an ordinarieReed, forae inch and halfe long, of a meehifh yel- 
low colour, curiouOy chequered, as if itwere wrought with aneedle with greene and yellow filke 
intermix! f. I haue not as yet feene it beare his tuft in my garden, and haue read that it is barren 
and by proofe haue feene it fo :yet for all that I beleeue Chfiut, who faith hee hath feene it beare 
his floure in that place where it doth grow naturally, although in England it is altogether bar- 
ren. The root is fweet in fmell,and bitter in tafte,and like vnto the common Flange but fm tiler 
and not fo red. °° 5 3 
3 Calamus Aromaticus Antiquorum. 
The true Aromaticall Reed of the Antienfs. 
t 3 I thinke it very fitting in this place to acquaint you with a Plant, which by the conie- 
ftureof the moft learned (and that not without good reafon) isiudgedtobe the true Calamus of 
the Ancients . C In fists giues vs the hiftorie thereof in his Notes vpon Garcias ab Horto, lib. i.ca.- 2 . 
in thefe words : When as (faith he) this Hiftorie was to be the third time printed, I very oppor- 
tunely came to the knowledge of the true Calamus 't r omaticus ; the which the learned Bernard Pa. 
ludams the Frifian, returning from Syria and iEgypt, freely bellowed vpon me, together with the 
fruit Habhel, and many other tare feeds, about the beginning of the yeare 15 yy. Now wee haue 
caufed a figure to be exabtly drawne by the fragments thereof (for that it feemes fo exquifitly to 
accord with Diofcorides his defeription .) In myne opinion it is rather to be iudged an vmbellife- 
rous plant than a reedy - for it hath aftraight ftalke parted with many knots or ioynts,otherwife 
Imooth, hollow within, and inuefted on the irtfide with a flender filme like as a Reed, and it brea- 
keth into lliiuers or fplinters, as Diofcorides hath written : it hath a fmell fufficiently ftrong , and 
£ letafteis gratefull, yet bitter, and pertakingoffomeaftri&ion : The Ieaues,as by remaines of 
t lem might appeare, feeme by couples at euery ioynt to engirt the Italke : the root at the top is 
omewhat tuberous, and then ends in fibres. Twenty fine ycares after Paludanus me this Cos 
amus, the learned Anthonj Coline the Apothecarie (who lately tranflated into French thefe Com- 
mentanes the fourth time let forth. Anno 1593) fent die from Lyons pieces of the like Reed • cer- 
ti ying mewithall. That hehad made vie thereofin his Compofition ofTreacIe. Now thelepie-' 
ces, though in forme they refembled thofe I had from Paludanus, yet had they a more bitter tafte 
lan his, netherdid they partake ofanyaftri&ion- which peraduenture was to be attributed to 
theageofoneofthetwo. Thus much Clufius. $ 
T . f The place. 
-a le trlI e Aromaticus groweth in Arabia, and likeivife in Syria, efpecially in themoo- 
grounds betweene the foot of Libanus f and another little hill, not the mountaine Antiliba- 
12 5 22 °| llc ^ aue thought, in a fmall valley neere toalake,who(eplalhes are dry in Sommer.i’//»_y 
01 Calamus growes naturally at the foot of a hill neere to Prufa a city of Bithynia, 
a 1 r roll I a great ake. It profpereth exceeding well in my garden, but as yet it beareth neither 
other^h^ ™ * e ‘ Ir g r °weth alfo in Candia,as Pliny reported! : in Galatia likewife,and in many 
Ti t r 1 • 1 . IT T b e time - 
icy o etieir eaues in thebeginning of Winter, and do recouer them againe in the Spring 
L w rbis yeare rS;;,Ireceiued from the Worlhipfull Gentleman lA.Thomas 
n l, , . Y™ llv . 0 ! 1 m Carnaruamliire, my very good friend, the prettv i-dus , or floure of this 
and that in'” ^ ^ C °i' nei,Cr ^ cc ^ erc a ^ out London, though it graweth wit s in many Gardens, 
■ -ri f , ®j The names. 
r the trite C.i/.otw being fupplied by Acorns as a fiucedaneiri.vrx the caufe (as 
inCT it ir °f C P , a bly conicfture)that ofafubftitute it tooke the prime place voon it : and De- 
o " ere made a Vice- Roy,- would needs be King. But the falfenefle of the title was difeo- 
uered 
