3 - 
Of the Hiftory of Plants. 
I 333 
in the deco&ton thereof, after vvhich the feces or wooddie ftuffe muft becaft away, and that which 
remameth boiled againe till it become as thicke as home : Pliny faith, that the roots and branches 
arc very bitter.and for three dates together they muft be boiled in a copper veflelJ, and the wood 
and flicks often taken out till the decodion be boiled to the thicknefle of honie. 
The Time. 
They flourein Februarie and March, and their fruit is ripe in September. 
The Names. 
It is named in Greeke«**»*fc which a man may call in Latine Buscea Jpina : and in Englifh Box 
Thorneiof fome, Affes Box Tree, and prickJey Boxe: it is alfonamed Ljcium , of the iuice which is 
boyled out of it : the iuice is properly called »*«», and retaineth in Latine the fame name Lycium - 
it is termed in Englifli Thorne box. But it feemeth to me, that the originall name L yctum i s fitttr 
beinga ftrange thing, and knovvne to very few : the Apothecaries know it not, whoinftead thereof 
do vfe amide the mice of the fruit of Woodbinde,and that not without great errour,as we haue al- 
ready written, f It is vnknowne mour drops, neither is there any thing vfed for it, it being wholly 
out of vfe,wherefore our Author might here well haue fpared Dodon&m his words. £ r 
Viofcoridis teacheth to make a^/ TO of Sumach which is good for thofe things that Lyciumh 
and is vfed when Lycium is not to be had, and it is fit to be put in all medicines inftead thereof. ! 
•S^ The Temperature. 
Lycium,o\ the iuice of Box Thorne, is as Galen teacheth, of a drying qualitie,and compounded of 
diuerskindcsof fubftances,oneof thinne parts digefting and hot; another earthie and cold by 
which it enioyeth his binding facultie : it is hot in a meane,and therefore it is vfed for feuerall pur < 
foies. ^ 
•y ThcVcrtues. 
Lycium cleareth the fight, faith Diofcorides, it healeth the feuruie feftred fores of the eye lids, the A' 
Itch, and old fluxes,ordiftillations of humors; it is a remedie for the running of theearcs-forvlcers 
In the gu names, and almonds of the throat, and againft the chappes or gallings of the lips and fun- 
dament. 
t The figure which was in the 2.place,vvas of rhe Ljcium Italieum of MitlVtobu and other; ; but the defeription and fitlebettcr fitted thijZfflWH Hiftmcm of 
Z.stri.whichthcrefoicIputthcrcto.Thcfiguic dfooCthcLjaum ItalicumoE Mutbioltv our Author gatic againe in the next chapter fauc two. J 5 
Chap. 2 8. Of Tfirnme or Harts ’Thornei, 
The Kindes. 
A Ftcr the opinion of Dioforides there be three forts ofi?Au«)«/.onewith long, flat & foft leaties: 
■“•theother with white leaues ; and the third with round lea ties, which are fomewliat blackifh - 
Thccphraftits and Pliny affirme that there are but two, the one white, and the other black,both which 
do beare Thornes: but by the labour and induftryofthenewand late writers there are found fun- 
dry forts moe.all which and euery one of them are plants of a wooddie fubftance, hauing alfo many 
flraight twiggie and pliant branches, fet with moft fharpe pricking thornes. 
The Description. 
1 npHis is a flirubbe growing in the hedges, and bringing forth flraight branches and hard 
1 thornes, like to thofe of the Hawthorne, * 1 2 with little leaues,Iong, fometbing fat and foft: 
and this hath that notable learned man Clufuts deferibed more diligently in thefe words: the Ram 
is a flirub fit to make hedges of, with flraight branches, parting it felfe into many twigs, white, and 
fet with ftiffeand ftrong thornes,hauing leaues,which for the moft part grow by foures or fines at 
the root of euery Thorne, long, fomething fat, like to thofe of the Oliue tree, fomewhat white, but 
tender and full of iuice ; which in Autumne doe fometimes fall off, leaning new growing in their 
places : thefloures in Autumne are fomething long, whitifh,diuided at the brims into fine parts: 
.in their places is left a feed, in fhew as in Gelfcmine : notwithftanding it was neuer my chance to fee 
the fruit : the root is thicke and ditierfly parted. 
t I obferued another (faith the fame Author) almoft like to the former, but lower, and diuided 
into more branches, with leffer leaues, more thick and fait oftafte,and whiter alfo than rhe former : 
the floures are like, in all things but their colour, thofe of the former which in this are purple. 
2 This hath more flexible ftalks and branches, and thefe alfo fet with thornes : the leaues are 
narrow, and not fo thicke or flefliie as thofe ofthe former, yet remaine alwaies greenelikeas they 
do : the floures are fmall and moffic.of a greenifh colour, growing thicke about the branches, and 
they are fucceeded by a round fruit, yellowifh when it is ripe, and remaining on the fljrubbe all the 
Winter, 
