Lib. 2. Of the Hiftory of Plants • 1041 
apiece, with a datke purplifh chine in the middle : the floures are fucceeded by,or rather grow vp- 
011 long {lender cods, which become fome inch long, and referable thofe of the laft defcribed. It 
floures in Iune , as Clufius affirmeth , who giues vs the hiftofy of it ; and he receiued it from Horn* 
riusBetlus out of Candy ; who writes, that in the Spring time it is much vfed in fallads,and defi- 
red, for that it much excites to Venery. He alfo thinks this plant to be the Amhrifats of Pliny, and 
by the lame name ClufiiK fets it forth . Columna hath called it Anifo-marathrum , becaufe the fmell 
and tafte is betweene that of Anife and Fennell. $ 
•([ The Place. 
It groweth in moft come fields in England, efpecially among wheate and barley. 
The Time. 
It floureth in May : the feed is ripe in Auguft with corne. 
The Names. 
The Latines call it Scandix, hailing borrowed that name of the Grecians, who call it if ■ we 
finde among the baftard words, that the Romans did call it Samaria, and Aciila, of the feed that is 
likevnto a needle. Rudlius defcribeth it vnder the name Peclen Veneris . ofothers, Acus Veneris, and. 
Acus P after is, or Shephcards Needle, vvildc Cheruill,and Ladies combe : in high-Dutch, jTilClt)? 
StaniEl ; This is that herbe (faith Pliny, lib. 2 2 .cap. 2 2 .) which Ariftophanes obieffed in fport to the 
Poet Euripides, that his mother was wont to fell no right pot-herbe but Scandix , or Shepheards 
needle-, meaning, as I takeit, Fifnapa, wherewith the Spaniards doe picke their teeth when they 
haue eaten no meate at all except a few oranges or fuch a like trifle, called alfo Scandix. 
qy The Temperature. 
Shepheards needle, faith Galen , is an herbe fomewhat binding, and bitter in tafte, infomuen that 
it is hot and dry either in the later end of the fecond degree, or in the beginning of the third. 
TbeVcrtues, 
Diofcorides faith it is eaten both raw and boyled, and that it is an wholefome pot-herbe among A 
the Greekes ; but in thefedayes it is offmalleftimationorvalue,and taken but for a wilde Wort, 
asappeareth by Ariftophanes taunting of Euripides, as aforefaid. 
The decodfion thereof is good fortlie bladder, kidneyes,andliuer ; butas I deeme hee meant B 
Cheru il 1 , when he fet the fame dovvne to be vfed in phy ficke. 
Chap. 418. 0 [Tooth -pic kg QberuilL 
«[ The Vefcription. 
1 r T*' He firft of thefe Tooth-picke Cheruils beareth leaues like wilde Turneps, a round 
ftalke furrowed, ioynted,blackilh, and hairy, diuided into many branches, on the tops 
whereof grow fpokie tufts, befet roundabout with many fmall leaues. The floures 
thereqfare whitifh : after commeth the the feed, which being once ripe do duller and are drawne 
together, in a round thicke tuft like a fmall birds neft,as be thofe of the wilde Carrot; whofe feeds 
whofo toucheth, they will cleauc and fticke to his fingers, by reafon of the glutinous or flimie 
matter they are poflefled with. Thoroot isfmalland whitifh, bitter intafte.as isall thereftof 
the plant. 
2 The Spanifh Tooth-picke hath leaues, floures, and knobby ftalkes likevnto wilde carrots,' 
failing that the leaues arc- fomewhat finer, cut or iagged thicker, and tenderer, but not rough or 
hairy at al 1 as is the former, of a bitter tafte, and a realonable good fmell : among which rife vp bu- 
fhie rundles or fpokie tufts like thofe of the wilde Carrot or Birds neft, clofely drawne together 
when the feed isripe ; at what time alfo the fliarpe needles arehardned,fit to make Tooth-pickes 
and fuch like, for which purpofe they do very fitly ferue, 
•U The Place. 
Both ofthem grow in Syria, and moft commonly in Cilicia: the later is to be found likevvife 
in S paine almoft euery where; and I haue it likevvife in my garden in great plentie. 
The Time. 
They fioure in my garden about Auguft, and deliuer their feed in O-Tober. 
The Names . 
I hat which the Grecians call s , ■/,{,„ , the Latines do likevvife name Gingidium and it is called 
in Syria Lepiditim : yet is there another Lepidium. It is reported among the baftard names to be cal. 
led by the Romans, BifacuUm : of which name fome drew remaines among the Syrians, who com- 
nfonly call the later, Gingidium, Fifnaga ; this is named in Engliflj, Tooth-picke Cheruill, 
Sfff 3 - ■ %Tit 
