CHAP. 29.—THE MELOTHRON, SPIRÆA, AND ORIGANUM. THE CNEORUM OR CASSIA; TWO VARIETIES OF IT. THE MELISSOPHYLLUM OR MELITTÆNA. THE MELILOTE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CAMPANIAN GARLAND.
Thus it is, that we find employed for chaplets, the leaves of
the melothron, [Note] spiræa, [Note] origanum, [Note] cneorum, [Note] by Hyginus
called "cassia," conyza or cunilago, [Note] melissophyllon or apiastrum, [Note] and melilote, known to us by the name of "Campanian [Note] garland," the best kind of melilote [Note] in Italy being that
of Campania, in Greece that of Cape Sunium, and next to that
the produce of Chalcidice and Crete: but wherever this plant
grows it is only to be found in rugged and wild localities. The
name "sertula" or "garland," which it bears, sufficiently
proves that this plant was formerly much used in the composition of chaplets. The smell, as well as the flower, closely
resembles that of saffron, though the stem itself is white; the
shorter and more fleshy the leaves, the more highly it is
esteemed.