.^64^ M. Link oih the Ancient History of 
speaks of its bitternessj and says, that in spring the young 
shoots are eaten (asparagus). Pliny confounds a number of 
plants under this title. The bulb of Megara is repeatedly 
mentioned by the ancients, as well as its stimulating property 
in general. Columella says, (1. x. v. 105.) Quceque viros acu- 
unt, armantque puellas, Jam Megaris veniant genitalia se-^ 
mina hulhi. The poets, in many passages, speak of this bulb. 
It has been suspected to be Hyacinthus comosus^ but only sus- 
pected, without any sufficient reason. 
Many roots have been cultivated and eaten in modern times. 
The scorzonera (Scorzonera Hispanica) was first brought into 
Catalonia about the end of the fifteenth century, as an article 
of food, as we learn from Manardes, in his treatise de laipide 
Bezoar et radice Scorzonerce. At a more recent period came 
the goafs beard, (Tragopogon porrijblius). Anciently, but 
only here and there, the Chcerophyllum hulhosum was cultivated 
on account of its tubers, as also Campamila rapuncidus. Oeno- 
thera biennis^ a North American plant, which has become wild 
in Europe, has also been cultivated on account of its edible 
root. 
Beckmann has given very exactly the history of the Artichoke 
(Cynara Scolymus)., in his History of Inventions, (p. % 1. 190). 
That Cynara and Cactus are the same plants, seems to be pro- 
ved by the notions which Athenseus and Pliny gives. But it 
is not clear whether they meant Cynara Scolymus, the arti- 
choke, or Cynara cardunculus^ the cardoon ; and as they say, 
after Theophrastus, that the blanched flower-stalks and leaf- 
stalks especially were eaten, it is likely that the latter plant was 
meant. It is then related in what way the culture of the arti- 
choke was first introduced, in 1473 by the Venetians. The 
cardoon grows wild in the South of Europe. The artichoke 
is not found wild, and probably at is only a subspecies of the 
cardoon, which has been produced by careful culture. 
The Scolymus of the ancients is evidently Scolymus Hispa- 
nicus^ which grows wild not merely in Spain, but generally 
over all the South of Europe. According to Dioscorides (1. 3. 
c. 16.) and others, it was eaten. To this day, in several coun- 
tries of the South of Europe, the root, receptacle, peeled nerves 
of the leaves, and young stems are eaten. 
