Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XIX. THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GARDEN PLANTS., CHAP. 27.

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CHAP. 27.—PARSNIPS.

The other kinds which have been classified by us among the cartilaginous plants, are of a more ligneous nature; and it is a singular thing, that they have, all of them, a strong flavour. Among these, there is one kind of wild parsnip which grows spontaneously; by the Greeks it is known as "staphylinos."¹ Another kind² of parsnip is grown either from the root transplanted, or else from seed, at the beginning of spring or in the autumn; Hyginus says that this may be done in February, August, September, and October, the ground being dug to a very considerable depth for the purpose. The parsnip begins to be fit for eating at the end of a year, but it is still better at the end of two: it is reckoned more agreeable eating in autumn, and more particularly if cooked in the saacepan; even then, however, it preserves its strong pungent flavour, which it is found quite impossible to get rid of.

The hibiscum³ differs from the parsnip in being more slender: it is rejected as a food, but is found useful for its medicinal properties. There is a fourth kind,⁴ also, which bears a similar degree of resemblance to the parsnip; by our people it is called the "gallica," while the Greeks, who have distinguished four varieties of it, give it the name of "daucus." We shall have further occasion⁵ to mention it among the medicinal plants.

1 There is some doubt as to the identity of this plant, but Fée, after examining the question, comes to the conclusion that it is the Daucus Carota, or else Mauritanicus of Linnæus, the common carrot, or that of Mauritania. Sprengel takes it to be either this last or the Daucus guttatus, a plant commonly found in Greece.

2 The Pastinaca sativa of Linnæus, or common parsnip.

3 The marsh-mallow, probably, the Althæa officinalis of Linnæus.

4 The carrot. The Daucus Carota of Linnæus.

5 In B. xxv. c. 64.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 27.—PARSNIPS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 27.—PARSNIPS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.