Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants

...indeed the same as mentioned above, but when it springs forth as a single stem in herbs, it is called a stalk [caulis]. Thus, the term trunk [caudex] pertains to shrubs and trees, while stalk [caulis] pertains only to herbs.

Neck. Neck [Cervix] is that part emerging from bulbous roots, elongated and rounded; so called because it is shaped in the likeness of a neck.

Cyathus. CyathusA standard ancient liquid measure, roughly 45ml or 1.5 ounces., named by the Greeks from the word "to pour" original Greek: ἀπὸ τοῦ χύειν (apo tou chyein), is the twelfth part of a sextarius A Roman unit of volume, approximately 546ml..

Shoots. Shoots [Cymæ] are the more delicate and tender little stalks of herbs, which they put forth at the first sprouting and at the top of the stem. For when springtime approaches, at the first budding of leaves, while the flower buds are still closed, they provide certain shoots as a vegetable, in which first the flower and then the seed's offspring are contained.

Curls. Curls [Cirri] are the hair-like filaments that are twisted and curled.

Tendrils. Tendrils [Claviculæ] are the little stalks by which the creeping vine grips supports as if with hands.

Foliage. Foliage [Coma] is whatever adorns the tops of branches or stalks with a cheerful beauty, in the manner of hair.

Congius. CongiusA Roman liquid measure equal to six sextarii, about 3.25 liters., which is called a chous in Greek original Greek: χοῦς (chous), is a measure holding six sextarii. This same measure is also called a congiarium.

Cone. Cone [Conus] to the Greeks, or pyramid, is an inverted spinning top; that is, something that is drawn from width into a narrower point and tapers. The basket shape (calathus), as we said, is its opposite.

Heart. Heart [Cor] is what resides in the middle of the wood, and is contained as the third part from the bark, like marrow in bones.

Womb. By others it is called the womb [matrix], and by some the pith [medulla].

Cluster. Cluster [Corymbus] is the bunch of ivy berries gathered together. It is, however, transferred to many fruits of herbs.

Bark. Bark [Cortex] is the outermost part separable from the underlying body, like a kind of crust given for protection.

Cotyle. CotyleA Greek measure of volume, equivalent to the Roman hemina. is a word born in Greece, for the Romans use the word hemina.

Notches. See under the entry for Hemina. Notches [Crenæ] are certain incisions at the outer edges, from which the leaves of herbs are called "crenated," that is, serrated and cut around the perimeter.

Cubit. Cubit [Cubitus] is a measure extending from the bend of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, which consists of six palms or twenty-four fingers [digits].

Stalk. Stalk [Culmus] is the reed of grain which supports the ear [spike].

D

Decussis. DecussisThe Roman numeral X. among the ancients was made in the shape of the letter X, which among the Latins signifies ten. Hence, "to decussate" [decussari] is to be spread out in the form of the letter X.

Dilution. Diluted [Dilutum] refers to that which is mixed; hence wine mixed with water is called diluted. But as a noun, a dilution is a liquid in which something has been soaked and infused for a certain time; for example, if wormwood is placed in a vessel of wine and then removed after some time, that wine is called "wormwood-infused."

Dodrans. DodransA measure of length, approximately 9 inches or 23 cm. is a measure of twelve digits. Elsewhere it is called the "greater palm" by the Latins, and spithamē by the Greeks original Greek: σπιθαμὴ (spithamē). A little stalk is called "dodrantal" if its length equals twelve digits.

E

Sea-urchin. Sea-urchin [Echinus] is anything packed with a numerous mass of prickles, whether it be a covering, a head, or a tip; so called because by its rounded

army of spines it mimics the sea urchin [hedgehog].

F

Fibers. Fibers [Fibræ] are siblings to the hair-like filaments; they are the smaller rootlets of herbs and trees, into which the thicker roots spread out as if at their ends.

Fringes. Fringes [Fimbriæ] are the edges of garments, from which leaves are called "fimbriated" when they end in certain fringes around their perimeter.

Shoots. Shoots [Flagella] refer to the young tips of trees and their highest parts, which move at the blowing of any wind; hence they also took their name from being struck by blasts [flatus]. Shoots [Flagella] are also the longer and more extended branches of vines, though smaller than others, rising upward from the main arms; they were previously called flabella small fans, evidently from the blowing of the wind.

Pod. Pod [Folliculus] is the case of any thing that contains the grain or seed wrapped within. Thus the membranous skin of a berry is called a folliculus.

Fruit. Fruit [Fructus] is that which is composed of flesh and seed. Frequently, however, it is used for that which is gathered in an envelope just as if composed of flesh and seed.

Shrub. Shrub [Frutex] is that which rises from the root with multiple trunks and branches, like a bramble.

Frond. Frond [Frons] is sometimes used for a branch. Properly, however, it is that which the branch itself produces all around, sometimes having many leaves and a bit of bark, and like little stalks.

G

Bud. Bud [Gemma] in a vine is the same as an "eye" [oculus], because it can be seen like a conspicuous little eye, or an excellent jewel [gemma], when it first comes forth from the vine or the shoot. This shows itself at the beginning of spring, and from it first the flower and then the fruit comes forth, both in the vines themselves and in trees.

Joints. Joints [Geniculi] or "little knees" are the nodes that appear in herbs, legumes, or even sub-shrubs. Thus roots are called "geniculate" which bulge out, marked by certain nodes, being round and slightly headed.

Husk. Husk [Gluma] is the pod of the grain contained in the ear, or the case of the grain.

Unripe figs. Unripe figs [Grossi] are what they call figs that do not ripen. Specifically, however, in the twice-bearing fig, they mean those that ripen during the harvests. These little unripe figs the Greeks call olynthous original Greek: ὀλύνθous (olynthous).

H

Hemina. HeminaA Roman measure of capacity, about 0.27 liters or nearly half a pint. is a Roman word, derived from the Greek hēmina original Greek: ἡμίνα (hēmina), because it is half a sextarius. To the Greeks it is called a cotyle original Greek: κοτύλη (kotylē). It holds ten measured ounces, as we have demonstrated at length in our annotations on the fourth book of Galen’s On the Preservation of Health.

Herb. Herb [Herba] is that which comes from the root with leaves but without a trunk, and more often bears seed on a stalk.

I

Internode. Internode [Internodium] is what is customary to call the space between the joints or nodes.

Intervein. Intervein [Intervenium] is what is intercepted between the veins.

Mane. Mane [Iuba] is the spreading reed-like foliage, such as occurs in millet; the metaphor is taken from "manes," that is, the hair of an animal hanging from the neck.

Catkin. Catkin [Iulus], to both the Greeks original Greek: ἴουλος (ioulos) and the Latins, is that which is found on the hazel tree, compacted in a cluster with a callus...