[922] See c. 73 of this Book.
[923] See c. 92 of this Book.
[924] Identified by Desfontaines with the Senecio Jacobæa of Linnæus, Common ragwort. Fée identifies it with the Senecio vulgaris of Linnæus, our Groundsel. They are both destitute of medicinal properties.
[925] Sec B. xxiv. c. 80.
[926] Ἔαρι γέρων, “aged,” or “hoary in spring.”
[927] “Spinæ.” He probably uses a wrong term, and means “thistle.”
[928] It may possibly have been so called from the Acanthis, or goldfinch, that bird being fond of groundsel.
[929] “Thistle-down.” If Pliny is speaking of groundsel, he is wrong in his assertion that it turns white, or in other words, goes to seed, in spring.
[930] Sprengel identifies it with the Ornithogalum stachyoïdes; but that has no blue flower, and the same is the case with many other plants that have been suggested as its synonym. Fée suggests the Convallaria verticillata of Linnæus, the whorl-leaved Solomon’s seal; as to which, however, there is the same difficulty in reference to the flower. Holland calls it the “May lily,” otherwise the Lily of the valley, the Convallaria Maialis; and this is the synonym suggested by Fuchsius. Littré gives the Convallaria multiflora of Linnæus.
[931] See c. 50 of this Book.