CHAP. 20.—THE SALIUNCA.

The saliunca[1] has a rather short leaf, which does not admit of its being plaited for garlands, and numerous roots, by which it is held together; being more of a herb than a flower, and so closely matted and tangled that it would almost appear to have been pressed together with the hand—in short, it is a turf[2] of a peculiar nature. This plant grows in Pannonia and the sunny regions of Noricum and the Alps, as also the vicinity of the city of Eporedia;[3] the smell being so remarkably sweet that the crops of it have been of late quite as profitable as the working of a mine. This plant is particularly valued for the pleasant smell it imparts to clothes among which it is kept.

1. Probably the Valeriana Celtica of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 27, where it is mentioned as Gallic nard.

2. "Cæspes."

3. See B. iii. c. 21.