CHAP. 36.—THE NATURE OF THE VARIOUS SEEDS.
In most plants the seed is round, in some oblong; it is broad
and foliaceous in some, orage for instance, while in others it is
narrow and grooved, as in cummin. There are differences,
also, in the colour of seeds, which is either black or white;
while some seeds are woody and hard, in radishes, mustard,
and rape, the seeds are enclosed in pods. In parsley, coriander, anise, fennel, and cummin, the seed has no covering at all,
while in blite, beet, orage, and ocimum, it has an outer coat,
and in the lettuce it is covered with a fine down. There is no
seed more prolific than that of ocimum
1; it is generally recommended
2 to sow it with the utterance of curses and imprecations, the result being that it grows all the better for it;
the earth, too, is rammed down when it is sown, and prayers
offered that the seed may never come up. The seeds which are
enveloped in an outer coat, are dried with considerable difficulty, that of ocimum more particularly; hence it is that all
these seeds are dried artificially, their fruitfulness being greatly
promoted thereby.
Plants in general come up better when the seed is sown in
heaps than when it is scattered broad-cast: leeks, in fact, and
parsley are generally grown by sowing the seed in little bags
3:
in the case of parsley, too, a hole is made with the dibble, and a
layer of manure inserted.
All garden plants grow either from seed or from slips, and
some from both seed and suckers, such as rue, wild marjoram,
and ocimum
4, for example—this last being usually cut when
it is a palm in height. Some kinds, again, are reproduced
from both seed and root, as in the case of onions, garlic, and
bulbs, and those other plants of which, though annuals themselves, the roots retain their vitality. In those plants which
grow from the root, it lives for a considerable time, and throws
out offsets, as in bulbs, scallions, and squills for example.—
Others, again, throw out offsets, though not from a bulbous
root, such as parsley and beet, for instance. When the stalk
is cut, with the exception
5 of those which have not a rough
stem, nearly all these plants put forth fresh shoots, a thing that
may be seen in ocimum
6, the radish
7, and the lettuce
8, which
are in daily use among us; indeed, it is generally thought that
the lettuce which is grown from a fresh sprouting, is the
sweetest. The radish, too, is more pleasant eating when the
leaves have been removed before it has begun to run to stalk.
The same is the case, too, with rape; for when the leaves are
taken off, and the roots well covered up with earth, it grows
all the larger for it, and keeps in good preservation till the en-
suing summer.