The acanthus2638 is a plant that grows in cities, and is used in ornamental gardening. It has a broad, long leaf, and is used as a covering for the margins of ornamental waters and of parterres in gardens.2639 There are two varieties of it; the one that is thorny2640 and crisped is the shorter of the two; the other, which is smooth,2641 is by some persons called “pæderos,”2642 and by others “melamphyllos.”2643 The root of this last is remarkably good for burns and sprains; and, boiled with the food, a ptisan more particularly, it is equally good for ruptures, spasms, and patients who are in apprehension of phthisis. The root is also beaten up and applied warm for hot gout.