Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
Lie. i. 
high, bearing at the top a Floure like the Floure de-luce. The lower Ieaues that turne downward 
are ofa perfe6t blacke colour, folt and fmooth as is blacke Veluet ; tke'blacknefte is welted about 
with grcenifh yellow , or as wee rerme it a Goofe-turd greerie ■ ofwhich colour the vppermoft 
Ieaues do confift : which being paft, there followeth a great knob or crefted feed vefTell of the big- 
n.efTe of a mans thtimbe, wherein is contained round white feed as bigge as the Fetch or tare. The 
root confifteth of many knobby bunches like fingers. 
Thefe baftard kindes of Floure de-luces are ftrangers in England, except it be among fome few- 
diligent Herbarifts in London, who hatte them in their gardens, where they increafe exceedingly , 
efpecially the laftdefcribed , which is faid to grow wilde about Conftantinople, Moreafaiid 
Greece: fromvvhence it hath beene tranfported into Italy, where it hath bcene taken for Hermo- 
daclylus , and by fome expreft. or fet forth in writing vnder the title Hcrmodaclylus ^whereas in truth 
it hath no femblance at all with Hermodacfylus. 
i 2 Thefe bulbed baftard Floure de-luces,which we haue Englifhed Spanifh Nuts, are cal- 
led in S paine, No^lhas ; that is, little Nuts : the lefter fort ParuaNozelha, and t Macuca wee take 
it to be thatkindeofnourifhing Bulbe which is named in Greekejn^v.iofAfey, Sifynrichium. 
t 3 Some, as Vlyjfes Aldroandtis, would haue this to be Lotichitis Prior, of liiofcor. tMatthiolus 
makes \tHermodaclylus verus , or the true Hermodadiill : Dodonatts and Lobell more fitly refer it to 
the Flourede-Iuces,andca]lit/r«r«£tT<>/a. ^ 
Of thefe kindes of Floure de-luces there hath beene little or nothing at all left in writing con- 
cerning their natures orvertues ; only the Spanifh nut is eaten at the tables of rich and delicious, 
nay viticais perfons, in fallads or otherwife, to procure lull and kcherie. 
C[ The place. 
«(J The time. 
The wilde or Baftard Floure de-luces do floure from May to the end of Iune. 
The names. 
«J The nature andvertucs. 
Chap. yd. Of Qorne^Flagge. 
I Gladiolus Narhonenfts. 
French Corne-Flag,or Sword-Flag, 
2 Gladiolus Italian. 
Italian Corne-Flag,or Sword-Flag. 
f 4 Clad 1 
