Buglosa

From Simon Online
Revision as of 16:45, 21 October 2013 by WilfGunther (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

Buglosa grece dictu bovis lingua Plinius eufrosinum dicitur infra in eu.


Apparatus:

Buglosa ABC | Buglossa e f

dictu AC | ē dictu B | est dictum e | ē dictuʒ f

lingua C | lĩgua AB | om. e

eufrosinum C | eufrosinuʒ f | eufrosinũ B e | eufrosmũ A {'in' misread as 'm'}

infra in eu om. B


Translation:

Buglosa in Greek is Latin bovis lingua {"tongue of an ox"}; Pliny says it is also called eufrosinum; see below the entry Eufrosinum.


Commentary:

Simon, as in the entry Eufrosinum, refers to Pliny [Loeb] vol.VII, book XXV, chapter xl. p. 194, § 8: ... buglossos, boum linguae similis, cui praecipuum, quod in vinum deiecta animi voluptates auget et vocatur euphrosynum – "buglossos is similar to the tongue of an ox. Its peculiarity is that when it is dipped into wine it increases the delights of the soul and it is therefore called eufrosinum".

Greek βούγλωσσον /boúglōsson/ is a compound noun consisting of βού- /boú-/ "ox-" + γλῶσσα /glôssa/ "tongue"; it enters Latin as buglossos (Pliny) and buglossa. According to Genaust p. 109, s.v. Buglossoídes, the plant is named after the rough tongue-shaped leaves.

For an etylomological comment on eufrosinum see Eufrosinum.


Botanical identification:

Most authors agree that buglos(s)a is a member of the Anchusa genus, however there is some disagreement as to the species.

The species most commonly mentioned is Anchusa italica Retz., syn. A. azurea Mill., “large blue alkanet” or “Italian bugloss” [[1]], [[2]], suggested e.g. by Liddell & Scott, Lewis & Short, Berendes p. 435, André (1985) p.40, and Beck p. 298; etc. This species is probably indigenous in Europe as well as western Asia and eastern North Africa.

André (1985) p.40 further suggests as an alternative identification Anchusa officinalis L, “common bugloss” or “alkanet” [[3]], [[4]], with a distribution over most of Europe but a clear preference for Central and Eastern Europe.

Finally André (1985) p.40 also mentions Anchusa undulata L., syn. A. hybrida Ten., “undulate alkanet” [[5]], [[6]], with a distribution spanning the Mediterranean region except Spain,

Hunt p.57 s.v. Buglossa suggests Anchusa arvensis (L.) M. Bieb. “”field alkanet”, “small bugloss” [[7]], [[8]], with a near pan-European distribution.


Next entry