Hazezalsachir
Hazezalsachir arabice est epatica que super lapides madidos oritur apud Dyascoridem licena vocatur de qua infra in li.
Apparatus:
Hazezalsachir AC | Hazezalsachar B | Hazez alsachr ef
li. ABC e | ly. f
Translation:
Hazezalsachir is Arabic for Latin epatica {i.a. "liverwort"}, which appears on damp rocks and is called licena in Dyascorides. For more on the latter see below under Licena.
Commentary:
Siggel (1950): ﺣﺯﺍﺯ ﺍﻟﺼﺧﺭ /ḥazzāz aṣ-ṣaḫr/ "Felsenflechte" {(lit.) "lichen of the rock"}.
Epatica, hepatica, short for herba hepatica "liver herb". It is only of medieval origin and is not mentioned in the literature of antiquity. See: Epatica.
Greek λειχήν /leikhḗn/, often written as λιχήν /likhḗn/ is glossed in LSJ "1. tree-moss, lichen". 2. "a kind of liver-wort, that grows on damp rocks" 3. "a lichen-like eruption on the skin of animals, esp. on the chin"; also of the ground: "blight, canker". 4. in horses, the normal callosity on foreleg, chestnut. See under licena, licen.
It may be of interest to mention that the Arabic word ﺣﺯﺍﺯ /ḥazzāz/ {i.a. "lichen"} has also acquired the extended meaning "head scurf, ringworm; tetter, eruption (med.)" according to Wehr (1976).
WilfGunther 25/11/13
