All garden plants grow either from seed or from slips, and some from both seed and suckers, such as rue, wild marjoram, and ocimum,[1084] for example—this last being usually cut when it is a palm in height. Some kinds, again, are reproduced from both seed and root, as in the case of onions, garlic, and bulbs, and those other plants of which, though annuals themselves, the roots retain their vitality. In those plants which grow from the root, it lives for a considerable time, and throws out offsets, as in bulbs, scallions, and squills for example.—Others, again, throw out offsets, though not from a bulbous root, such as parsley and beet, for instance. When the stalk is cut, with the exception[1085] of those which have not a rough stem, nearly all these plants put forth fresh shoots, a thing that may be seen in ocimum,[1086] the radish,[1087] and the lettuce,[1088] which are in daily use among us; indeed, it is generally thought that the lettuce which is grown from a fresh sprouting, is the sweetest. The radish, too, is more pleasant eating when the leaves have been removed before it has begun to run to stalk. The same is the case, too, with rape; for when the leaves are taken off, and the roots well covered up with earth, it grows all the larger for it, and keeps in good preservation till the ensuing summer.
CHAP. 37.—PLANTS OF WHICH THERE IS BUT A SINGLE KIND. PLANTS OF WHICH THERE ARE SEVERAL KINDS.
Of ocimum, lapathum, blite, cresses, rocket, orage, coriander, and anise respectively, there is but a single kind, these plants being the same everywhere, and no better in one place than in another. It is the general belief that stolen[1089] rue grows the best, while, on the other hand, bees[1090] that have been stolen will never thrive. Wild mint, cat-mint, endive, and pennyroyal, will grow even without any cultivation. With reference to the plants of which we have already spoken, or shall have occasion to speak, there are numerous varieties of many of them, parsley more particularly.
(8.) As to the kind of parsley[1091] which grows spontaneously in moist localities, it is known by the name of “helioselinum;”[1092] it has a single leaf[1093] only, and is not rough at the edges. In dry places, we find growing the kind known as “hipposelinum,”[1094] consisting of numerous leaves, similar to helioselinum. A third variety is the oreoselinum,[1095] with leaves like those of hemlock, and a thin, fine, root, the seed being similar to that of anise, only somewhat smaller.
The differences, again, that are found to exist in cultivated parsley,[1096] consist in the comparative density of the leaves, the crispness or smoothness of their edges, and the thinness or thickness of the stem, as the case may be: in some kinds, again, the stem is white, in others purple, and in others mottled.
CHAP. 38.—THE NATURE AND VARIETIES OF TWENTY-THREE GARDEN PLANTS. THE LETTUCE; ITS DIFFERENT VARIETIES.
The Greeks have distinguished three varieties of the lettuce;[1097] the first with a stalk so large, that small garden gates,[1098] it is said, have been made of it: the leaf of this lettuce is somewhat larger than that of the herbaceous, or green lettuce, but extremely narrow, the nutriment seeming to be expended on the other parts of the plant. The second kind is that with a rounded[1099] stalk; and the third is the low, squat lettuce,[1100] generally known as the Laconian lettuce.
Some persons[1101] have made distinctions in reference to their respective colours, and the times for sowing them: the black lettuce is sown in the month of January, the white in March, and the red in April; and they are fit for transplanting, all of them, at the end of a couple of months. Those, again, who have pursued these enquiries even further than this, have distinguished a still greater number of varieties of them—the purple, the crisped, the Cappadocian,[1102] and the Greek lettuce, this last having a longer leaf than the rest, and a broad stalk: in addition to which, there is one with a long, narrow leaf, very similar to endive in appearance. The most inferior kind, however, of all, is the one to which the Greeks, censuring it for its bitterness, have given the name of “picris.”[1103] There is still another variety, a kind of white lettuce, called “meconis,”[1104] a name which it derives from the abundance of milk, of a narcotic quality, which it produces; though, in fact, it is generally thought that they are all of them of a soporific tendency. In former times, this last was the only kind of lettuce that was held in any esteem[1105] in Italy, the name “lactuca” having been given it on account of the milk[1106] which it contains.
The purple kind, with a very large root, is generally known as the Cæcilian[1107] lettuce; while the round one, with an extremely diminutive root and broad leaves, is known to some persons as the “astytis,”[1108] and to others as the “eunychion,” it having the effect, in a remarkable degree, of quenching the amorous propensities. Indeed, they are, all of them, possessed of cooling and refreshing properties, for which reason it is, that they are so highly esteemed in summer; they have the effect, also, of removing from the stomach distaste for food, and of promoting the appetite. At all events, we find it stated, that the late Emperor Augustus, when ill, was saved on one occasion,[1109] thanks to the skill of his physician, Musa,[1110] by eating lettuces, a food which the excessive scruples of his former physician, C. Æmilius, had forbidden him. At the present day, however, lettuces have risen into such high estimation, that a method has been discovered even of preserving them during the months in which they are out of season, by keeping them in oxymel.[1111] It is generally supposed, also, that lettuces have the effect of making blood.