[462] It is not improbable that he may here allude to the cotton-tree, of which further mention is made in c. [xxi]. of the present Book.
[463] Fée is of opinion that Cynorrhodon here means, not the dog-rose, but the gall which is formed on the tree by the sting of the Cynips bedeguar.
[464] Fée expresses himself at a loss to conjecture what trees are here meant by Pliny.
[465] Fée remarks, that there are many inaccuracies in the account here given by Pliny of the pepper-tree, and that it does not bear any resemblance to the juniper-tree. The grains, he says, grow in clusters, and not in a husk or pod; and he remarks, that the long pepper and the black pepper, of which the white is only a variety divested of the outer coat, are distinct species. He also observes, that the real long pepper, the Piper longum of Linnæus, was not known to the ancients.
[466] Fée remarks, that this is not a correct description of ginger, the Amomum zingiber of Linnæus. Dioscorides was one of those who thought that ginger was the root of the pepper-tree.
[467] It is very doubtful what tree is here alluded to by Pliny, though certain that it is not one of the pepper-trees. Sprengel takes it to be the Daphne Thymelæa.
[468] It has been suggested that under this name the clove is meant, though Fée and Desfontaines express a contrary opinion. Sprengel thinks that it is the Vitex trifolia of Linnæus, and Bauhin suggests the cubeb, the Piper cubeba of Linnæus. Fée thinks it may have possibly been the Myrtus caryophyllata of Ceylon, the fruit of which corresponds to the description here given by Pliny.
[469] See c. [52] of the present Book.
[470] Or “Lycium.” It is impossible to say with exactness what the medical liquid called “Lycion” was. Catechu, an extract from the tan of the acacia, has been suggested; though the fruit of that tree does not answer the present description.
[471] Fée suggests that this may possibly be the Lycium Europæum of Linnæus, a shrub not uncommonly found in the south of Europe.