APPENDIX

TO THE BOOKS

ON PLANTS

PERIPATETIC

QUESTIONS.

On Cinnamon, Cassia, Malabathrum, Clove, Amomum, Cardamom, and Carpesium. Chapter 1.

---

Rbor The text begins with a decorative woodcut initial 'A'. The tree of Cinnamon, from which is extracted that most choice substance commonly called *Canella* original: "Canella"; literally 'little reed' or 'quill', referring to the curled shape of the dried bark, but in Latin termed *Fistula* original: "Fistula"; meaning a pipe or tube, is described with great diligence by Filippo Sassetti A Florentine merchant and scholar (1540–1588) who wrote famous letters from India describing local flora and linguistics., a man of much erudition, in a certain letter sent to Baccio Valori from Goa in India. In this letter, he also testifies that he had arranged for a living plant, along with certain others, to be transported to him, but the ship perished on the journey. He describes it, therefore, in this manner:

The tree bearing the most choice Canella, which is the true Cinnamon, arises in the island of Ceylon original: "Zeilana", which is the ancient Taprobane: and it is called today by all Indians Cingal A reference to the Sinhalese people or their language. It grows there everywhere, especially in low-lying places near the sea. Therefore, it is true what Pliny Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist relates: that those sailing nearby perceive a sweet odor breathing forth from those trees. This is not because the odor of the wood is perceived—for it is odorless, whether green or dry, unless it is rubbed—but the flowers of the trees, both of the Cinnamon and of many others which grow in that region, breathe forth a most sweet odor almost the whole year round. The shrubby turf...