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.”1008 Another kind1009 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 saucepan; even then, however, it preserves its strong pungent flavour, which it is found quite impossible to get rid of.
The hibiscum1010 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,1011 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 occasion1012 to mention it among the medicinal plants.