HERB - Charlemagne's list

[khkeeler]

fiona at ns1.alaweb.com wrote:
> 
> >Ok, where is the Capitulare de Villis?
> >16. squill ?
family Liliaceae, genus _Scilla_ - squill an Old World genus of bulbous
plants having narrow leaves and blue to white flowers 
	very similar to camas or wild hyacinth 
(quoting Gray's Manual of Botany.  A European reference would probably
say more)
> >18. dragons?
a common name for a group of English plants, but I don't have the right
reference here.
> > 22. ammi?
> > 23. skirret?
> > 26. rocket?
rocket is a general name for a bunch of cabbage relatives (cabbage
family, Brassicaceae)  Dames rocket, widely planted in the US, is an
attractive member of the group.  
the Oxford book of food plants lists rocket as _Eruca sativa_ "another
rarely grown salad plant"
> > 30. alexanders?
> > 34. savin?
> > 38 dittander?
> > 49. asarabacca?
> >54. orach?
its a leafy green (_Atriplex hortensis_, goosefoot family,
Chenopodiaceae)  "occassionally grown as a substitute for spinach or
sorrel (Oxford book of food plants)
> >55. blite?
> >77. service?
Oxford book of food plants lists Service Tree, _Sorbus domestica_, Rose
Family, Rosaceae, 'this relative of the rowan has clusters of hard acid
fruit, rather like small brownish or green apples or pears, which are
edible only when bletted (allowed to soften by half-rotting).  This is a
native of Asia Minor which has been grown over most of Europe in the
past."
tho the name is so simple it might apply to a variety of plants.
> >78. medlar?
I've lumped these as "plums", in Period they distinguished medlars from
plums. And it looks like we should.   Oxford book of food plant says 
_Mespilus germanica_ Rose family Rosaceae. And adds it can be grafted
onto quince or pear, but naturally its a small spreading tree.

I don't have the right books for the rest of them here. But Alysoun can
probably add those easily from her source.
 BTW I would like to buy a copy of John Harvey's book, if anyone knows
where one is.  
Agnes
kkeeler1 at unl.edu
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