Appendix to the Books on Plants and Peripatetic Questions

people. The fruit, which grows upon it, is oblong, not large, sitting in a socket like an acorn; at first it is green, then as it grows it turns purple, and later tends toward black. When it is fully ripe, it looks like an acorn. Inside are enclosed tiny seeds, like the yellow grains of a fig, without scent, but with the flavor of cinnamon original: "Canellæ", though sweeter. Birds feed on these, especially wood-pigeons original: "Palumbi" more greedily than others; they become sluggish from eating them, sitting in the trees with their heads nodding back and forth as if they were drunk. The bark of the roots is far more pungent than that of the trunk. When chewed, it sends a scent to the brain like lavender flowers original: "flores spicae" or camphor. The leaves are most pleasant to the taste. Although they are not as pungent when chewed as the cinnamon bark itself, they are not much inferior; however, when tender and fresh, they lack that grace of flavor, but are astringent and make the mouth slightly slippery, as if quince seeds were being held in the mouth. A very precious water is extracted through distillation from fresh cinnamon, and it is not inferior to that which Matthiolus Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501–1577), a famous Italian physician and botanist. describes. That which grows on the mainland is like a wild variety compared to that which grows on the island of Ceylon original: "Zeilana". It grows throughout the entire province of Malabar, Canara, and Konkan original: "Concanſino", and in the mountains of Goa, but these truly seem like wild shrubs with many branches; however, that which comes from Malabar does not yield much to the Ceylonese variety, except that the bark is woodier and more fibrous, with a redder color, and it burns the palate with less pleasantness. That which is gathered in Canara already differs greatly. That in Konkan can hardly be identified by its flavor. Therefore, those which grow on the mainland are not for sale, except for those in Cochin. Other characteristics are common to all, whether they are produced on the mainland or on the islands. They would seem to be of the laurel genus, if only their leaves crackled in the fire. Thus far Philip Likely referring to a specific source or traveler named Philippus. has spoken. From this account, we can gather the difference between Cassia and Cinnamon. For Cassia is like a wild cinnamon. Nor is it a wonder that the best cinnamon arises on that island: for if it is Taprobane A historical name for the island of Sri Lanka/Ceylon used by ancient Greek geographers., or very near to it, it enjoys an almost perpetual equinox, where the Sun, cooking things equally, produces that temperature most pleasant to human nature. To gather...