And Polyzelus, in his Birth of the Muses, names cabbages; and says—
The close-grown cabbage with its lofty leaves.
11. The next thing to be mentioned is beet-root. Of beet-root (according to the opinion of Theophrastus), the white is more juicy than the black, and it contains less seed, and it is the kind which is called the Sicilian beet. But, says he, the beet called σευτλὶς is a different kind from the τεῦτλον. On which account, Diphilus the comic poet, in his drama called the Hero, reproaches some one for speaking incorrectly, and for calling τεῦτλα, τευτλίδας. And Eudemus, in his treatise on Vegetables, says that there are four kinds of τεὖτλα: there is the kind which may be pulled, the kind with a stalk, the white kind, and the common kind; and this last is of a brown colour. But Diphilus the Siphnian says that the beet which he calls σεύτλιον is more juicy than the cabbage, and is also, in a moderate degree, more nutritious; and it ought to be boiled and eaten with mustard, and that then it has a tendency to attenuate the blood, and to destroy worms; but the white kind is better for the stomach, while the black is more diuretic. He says, also, that their roots are more pleasing to the palate, and more nutritious.
12. Then there is the carrot. "This vegetable," says Diphilus, "is harsh, but tolerably nutritious, and moderately good for the stomach; but it passes quickly through the bowels, and causes flatulence: it is indigestible, diuretic, and not without some influence in prompting men to amatory feelings; on which account it is called a philtre by some people." And Numenius, in his Man fond of Fishing, says—
Of all the plants which grow in fields unsown,
Or which take root in fertile plough'd-up lands
In winter, or when flowering spring arrives,
Such as the thistle dry, or the wild carrot,
Or the firm rape, or lastly, the wild cabbage.
And Nicander, in the second book of his Georgics, says—
Then there is also the deep root of fennel,
And of rock-parsley, and the carrot too,
Which loves dry soils, the sow-thistle, the myrrh plant,
The dog-tongue and the chicory. And with them bruise
The tough hard-tasted leaves of arum, and
The plant which farmers do entitle bird's-milk.
LEEKS.
Theophrastus also mentions the carrot; and Phænias, in the fifth book of his treatise on Plants, speaks as follows:—"But as to the nature of the seed, the plant which is called σὴψ and the seed of the carrot are much alike." And in his first book he says—"The following plants have seed in pods of umbellated form: the anise, fennel, the carrot, the bur-parsley, hemlock, coriander, and aconite (which some call mousekiller)." But, since Nicander has mentioned the arum, I must also add that Phænias, in the book which I have just mentioned, writes thus:—"The dracontium, which some call arum or aronia." But Diocles, in the first book of his treatise on the Wholesomes, calls the carrot, not σταφυλῖνος, but ἀσταφύλινος. There is also another kind which is called καρωτὸν, which is a large and well-grown carrot, more juicy than the σταφυλῖνος, and more heating,—more diuretic, very good for the stomach, and very easily digested, as Diphilus assures us.
13. Then there is the κεφαλωτὸν, or leek, which the same Diphilus says is also called πράσιον; and he says that it is superior to the kind called the sliced-leek, and that it has some effect in attenuating the blood, and is nutritious, and apt to cause flatulence. But Epænetus, in his Cookery Book, says that the leeks are also called γηθυλλίδες; and I find this name occurring in Eubulus, in his Pornoboscus, where he says—