The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)

Chapter 321: CHAP. 64.—THE LAPPA, A PLANT WHICH PRODUCES WITHIN ITSELF. THE OPUNTIA, WHICH THROWS OUT A ROOT FROM THE LEAF.

By the Elder Pliny

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History - Ancient Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming

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The text compiles practical and encyclopedic guidance on crop cultivation and plant uses, beginning with cereals and farm management — types of grain, sowing and harvesting schedules, ploughing, seed selection, storage, and maladies — plus weather and stellar prognostics for agricultural timing. It proceeds to flax and garden plants, detailing varieties, planting and processing methods, garden layout, and pest and disease remedies. The final section assembles medicinal preparations and numerous remedies derived from vegetables and herbs, listing applications and recipes for treating ailments using garden-grown plants.

CHAP. 64.—THE LAPPA, A PLANT WHICH PRODUCES WITHIN ITSELF. THE OPUNTIA, WHICH THROWS OUT A ROOT FROM THE LEAF.

In the lappa,2250 too, which clings so tenaciously, there is this remarkable peculiarity, that within it there grows a flower, which does not make its appearance, but remains concealed and there produces the seed, like those among the animals which produce within themselves. In the vicinity of Opus there grows a plant 2251 which is very pleasant eating to man, and the leaf of which, a most singular thing, gives birth to a root by means of which it reproduces itself.