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This volume catalogs remedies derived from forest trees and wild plants, presenting systematic entries for dozens of species with prescribed treatments and applications. It enumerates specific uses for resins, barks, leaves, berries, and sap, and gives instructions on preparation, dosage, and testing of potency. The text also records variations among species, regional observations on growth and harvesting, and anecdotes on how certain plants were discovered or associated with animals and human practices. Overall it functions as a practical herbal compendium combining botanical description with medicinal recipes and empirical notes.
The Thracians were the first to discover the ischæmon,698 which, it is said, has the property of stanching the flow of blood, not only when a vein has been opened, but when it has been cut asunder even. This is a creeping plant; it is like millet in appearance, and the leaves of it are rough and lanuginous. It is used as a plug699 for the nostrils. The kind that grows in Italy, attached to the body as an amulet, has the property of arresting hæmorrhage.