67. Chap. 67.-The Cypiros. The Thesion.

CHAP. 67.—THE CYPIROS. THE THESION.

Some authors reckon among the bulbs the root of the cypiros, or gladiolus;[1] it is a pleasant food, and when boiled and kneaded up with bread, makes it more agreeable to the taste, and at the same time more weighty. Not unlike it in appear- ance is the plant known to us as the "thesion,"[2] but it is of an acrid flavour.

1. "Little sword:" the Gladiolus communis of Linnæus. See the remarks on the hyacinthus of the ancients in the Notes to c. 38 of this Book.

2. Sprengel says that it is the Thesium linophyllum of modern botany; an opinion at which Fée expresses his surprise. See B. xxii. c. 31.