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 kind[2] 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 hibiscum[3] 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 occasion[5] to mention it among the medicinal plants.