Pliny: Natural History, Vol. IV

colore rufo odorisque suavitate et gustu maxime siccante os sapore iucundo.

Pretium spicae in libras X c. folii divisere annonam amplitudine: hadrosphaerum vocatur maioribus pilulis X xxxx; quod minore folio est mesosphaerum appellatur, emitur X lx; laudatissimum microsphaerum e minimis foliis, pretium eius X lxxv. odoris gratia omnibus, maior recentibus.

nardo colos, si inveteravit, nigrior meliori. in nostro orbe proxime laudatur Syriacum, mox Gallicum, tertio loco Creticum, quod aliqui agrion vocant, alii phun, folio olusatri, caule cubitali, geniculato, in purpuram albicante, radice obliqua villosaque et imitante avium pedes. baccaris vocatur nardum rusticum, de quo dicemus inter flores. sunt autem omnia ea herbae praeter Indicum. ex iis Gallicum et cum radice vellitur abluiturque vino, siccatur in umbra, alligatur fasciculis in charta, non multum ab Indico differens, Syriaco tamen levius. pretium X iii. in his probatio una ne sint fragilia et arida potius quam sicca folia. cum Gallico nardo semper nascitur herba quae hirculus vocatur a gravitate odoris et similitudine, qua maxime adulteratur; distat quod sine cauliculo est et quod minoribus foliis, quodque radicis neque amarae neque odoratae.

its taste, which dries up the mouth and leaves a pleasant flavour.

The price of nard spikes is 100 denarii a pound. The nard-leaf market is graded according to the size of the leaf: the kind called hadrosphaerum large-grained nard in larger pills costs 40 denarii; the smaller-leaved sort called mesosphaerum medium-grained nard sells at 60 denarii; and the most highly spoken of, microsphaerum small-grained nard, is made of the smallest leaves and its price is 75 denarii. All the kinds have an agreeable scent, stronger when they are fresh.

The better nard has a blacker colour, if it is old when gathered. In our part of the world the next most highly praised kind is the Syrian, then that from Gaul, and in the third place is the Cretan, which some call agrion wild and others phun self-sown; it has a leaf like that of alexanders, a stalk 18 inches long, knotted and coloured whitish purple, and a crooked hairy root resembling birds’ claws. Wild nard is called baccaris baccaris-nard; we shall speak about it among flowers. All of these kinds of nard, however, are herbs except the Indian. Among them the Gallic kind is plucked with the root as well, and washed in wine, dried in a shady place, and done up with paper in small parcels; it does not differ much from the Indian nard, but it is lighter in weight than the Syrian. Its price is 3 denarii. In the case of these varieties the only way to test them is that the leaves must not be brittle and parched instead of merely dry. With Gallic nard there always grows the herb called 'hirculus' little goat because of its offensive smell, like the smell of a goat; it is very much employed to adulterate nard, from which it is distinguished by having no stem and smaller leaves, and by its root, which is not bitter and also has no smell.