Chap. 48* 
Theatmm Botanicum. 
Tribe 
3. wicoritt ■vei'Ul five Celamut ofificinitruiii. 
The fweei fmcllingFl.igge. 
as other Plower-deluces doe)a narrow long Ieafe by it felfe, 
fiat like unto the other leaves, efpecially from the middle 
thereof upwards; but from the boctome to the middle it is 
thicker, narrower, or rounder, where it beginneth to grow 
flat,at which place commeth forth one long round head,very 
lcldome two,in forme & bignes like unto the Catkin or Ag¬ 
let ofthcHafl'elnut tree, growing upright, and of the length 
thickneffc ofones finger, or ratherbigger, fet with feverall 
fmall lines and divifions, like unto agreene Pineapple, of a 
purplilh greene colour for the mod; part, out of which 
bunches, Ihoote forth fmall pale whitilh flowers, confining 
of foure fmall leaves apcece, without any fo good feent as 
the leaves, falling quickly away, and not giving any feed, 
that ever I could obferve or underftand : the roote is thicke 
and long, lying under the upper face of the ground, (hooting 
forward, and with fmall rootes as fuckers on all fides like 
unto the garden Valerian,whitilh on the outfide, or greenifb 
if it lye above the ground; and more pale or whitilh on the 
infide, with many j oynts thereabouts, and whereat,it hath or 
doth lhoote forth,long thicke fibres underneath, wherfby it 
Itaketh ftronghold in the ground, of a firmeorfatl fubftance, 
yet not hard or wooddy, but eafie to be cut, of a fweet feent, 
and fomewhat bitter tafte. 
The Place, 
The firft is thought by CMatthidlus and others, to grow in 
lndia 3 Syria 3 6 cIudta. The dry ftalkesof the a.are faid to grow 
at the foot of Mount Lib anus in Syria,nothx from Tripoli y in 
the wet grounds there : the other as is faid before. The other 
Calamus of the fhops,or true Acorns growetb in many places 
of Turky,(in moift grounds,for fo with us it joyeth and flou- 
riflieth better than in dry)from whence the largeft roots, the 
firmcft,whiteft,& fweeteft are brought unto us:but it grow- 
eth alfo in RuJJla, and thofe other places thereabouts,in very 
great plenty; but the rootes being dryed, are more lanke or 
imall,not fo firme or white,nor of fo fineular a good feent. 
The Time, 
Thefe Reeds are Grangers not growing with us, We having no further knowledge of them: the fweet fmelling 
Plagge beareth his catkin in the beginning or middle of Iuly and Auguft. 
The Names, 
The firft and fecond have their names in their titles,as their Authors have called them,but whether either of them 
be the true Calamus Aromaticus of Diofcorides , Galen , and others, it were worthy the knowledge ; for although it 
be commonly fo taken to be, yet Clufius in part improving it, and I fhewing more doubts, doe make it the more 
improbable: and it is very certaine.that we have no true Calamus Aromaticus brought unto us in thefe dayes, for 
even thorow all Turkje 3 with both Phyficians and Drnggifts,0r Merchants, (for they have no Apothecaries fuch 
as are in Chriftendome) it is notfccne or knowne, for the Arabian word of Cajfabeldberira 3 which is Calamus 
Aromaticus, they underftand not what it is, and being demanded for it by that name, (although the Arabian tongue 
be very frequent among them) they (Till will give contrary things for it, as Matthiolus in his Epiftles,and Bellonius 
in his obfervations doc declare. Now whether it fbouldbe called Calamus Aromaticus , or odorattts 3 it is worth the 
fcanning alfo, becaufe very many doe thinke the word aroma 3 from whence commeth Aromaticus , is the fame with 
odor and odoratus • but I finde Garcias a very learned Writer, and others alfo to contrary that opinion; faying, that 
the Arabian words, derire or dherira 3 C\nniiyin°aroma 3 (as Cafab doth Arundo or Calamus) is properly a drogue 
ordrugge, whether they be fpices that fmell l weet, or any other thing ufed in medicine, that hath either a ftrong 
or no fmell, for fo the Hebrew word deror fignifyeth alfo, as CMor deror, Myrrha aroma 3 or aromatizans y the belt 
Myrrhe, in the Scripture -E.\W.the go. chapter, and 25. verfe, was appointed among other fpices to make the holy 
anoynting oyle, and in the 3 4. verfe of the fame Chapter, with Galbanum which hath no fweet feent, as I thinke 
every one knoweth, and other gums to make perfume to burne : and Myrrhe although it be reckoned with Aloes 
and Caflia, as a fweet thing, in many places of the Scripture, yet it is not fweet to us, as wee account fweet things 
in thefe dayes, and Myrrhe and Aloes are called Aromata , in the 1 9. chapter of Saint Iobns Gofpell. Garcias faith 
Calamus aromaticus he knew well, and was of much ufe in India y both with himfelfe, and other Phylitians, as ajfo 
with many perfons of high and low degree, but any to be odoratus fweet, he knew not, butonely Iuncus odoratus 9 
and I thir.ke Pliny firft broached that errour in numbring up his forts of Reeds, calleth one odorotus y and therefore 
judged to be this,and therefore Hippocrates calleth it My repjic us ,that is unyuentarius or unguent is petit us .And againe 
whether that roote that is generally called, Calamus odoratus and Aromaticus of the Apothecaries and others noW 
adayes, be the true Calamus Aromaticus of the ancient Writers. Brajfavolus Ferrarienjis 3 and Fuchfitts in their 
WntingSjdoe hold that opinion, that the Calamus odoratus of the {hops, which is a root and not a Reed, or a ftalke 
of a Reed, is the true Calamus aromaticus of the Ancients: which, that it cannot bee fo, let us firft fcan the name, 
which is Calamus 3 ot Amndo a Reed, which the Ancients alwayes fpeake of, and name no roote thereof to bee 
ufed, but the ftalke o~ reed it felfe, and which Tbeophraflus and Tliny fay, differcth not, but is like unto other forts 
of Reeds; although it groweth in Arabia and Syria, as well as in India, and all men phifidy fee, that this roote of 
Calamus 
