Holostheon

Holostheon Plinius sine duritia est herba ex adverso appellata a grecis sicut fel dulce tenuis usque in capillamenti speciem longitudine quattuor digitorum ceu gramen foliis angustis astringens gustu, nascitur in callibus terrenis et cetera.

Apparatus:

Holostheon AC | Holotheon B efjp | Holosteon Pliny
sine AB efp Pliny | siue C j
duritia B p | duricia ms. e | duricie f | driritia AC {'u' misread as 'ri'} | diuictia j
herba AC Pliny | hec B | h’ fjp | h^o ms. e
appellata | appelata B f
fel AC Pliny | mel B efjp
usque (usʒ A ep) ABC ejp | sʒ f {= sed or secundum; here the result of misreading 'usʒ' = usque as 'sʒ'}
capillamenti AC Pliny | capilamẽti ms. e | capilam͂ti B f | capillameti p | capilementi j
speciem | spe͡s j
quattuor AC | quatuor efp | iiii B | {4}^or j {see medieval numeral for shape of 4 [[1]]}
ceu AC fp Pliny | seu B ej
angustis | angustiis f | ag'stis j
{angustis} et add. p
nascitur | nascirur B {printer’s error}
callibus AC j | collibus f Pliny | colibus B | caulibus p | talibus or calibus ms. e
et cetera ABC jp | sed alibi teneris l’ ternis f | om. e

Translation:

Holostheon {lit. “all-bone”} according to Pliny is {despite its name} without any hardness, it is a herb that has been named by the Greeks in opposition {to its nature}, just as the Greeks call {bitter} gall {χολή /kholḗ} also by the name “the sweet one” {ἡ γλυκεῖα /hē glykeîa/ LSJ}. It is so tender it looks like hair, its length amounts to that of 4 fingers with narrow leaves just like grass; also it is astringent in taste. It grows on humus-filled {mountain} paths {Pliny: hills}, et cetera.

Commentary:

Holostheon:
Greek ὁλόστεον /holósteon/ is a compound of ὁλ- /hol-) the prevocalic compound form of ὅλος /hólos/ {“whole, entire”} + ὀστέον /ostéon/ {“bone”}, perhaps meaning “entirely {hard as} bone”. According to Pliny the name represents an antiphrasis, i.e. a word employed in a way that is opposite to its literal meaning, and therefore a kind of ironic name for a plant whose matter is apparently anything else but hard.
However Carnoy (1959: 146 s.v. holosteon) thinks that the veins in the leaves of the holosteon plant, i.e. in his opinion Plantago bellardii see below, resemble a skeleton, hence “all-bone”, with André (1985: 125, also s.v. holosteon, similarly seeing as the naming motive the many veins found in the leaves of the plants he suggests for identification.

Simon’s witnesses all show an unetymological spelling with “th” Holo(s)theon, a Graecizing hypercorrection perhaps even with interference from Greek θεός /theós/ “god(ly)”. The dropping of “s” in the witnesses’ Holotheon could be the result of a spelling like *Holoſtheon”, involving “long s”, misread as *Holottheon and simplified to Holotheon.

Source:
Simon’s entry is a near-verbatim quote from Pliny Natural History, 27, 65, 91, ed. W.H.S. Jones (1938-63: VII, 444) with somewhat more than usual corruption of the text.

Excursion:
Even the original Plinian text has some problems. Thus all codices – just as Simon’s text – have the reading: sicut fel dulce tenuis usque in capillamenti speciem - "just as they call {bitter} gall 'sweet' … tender in appearance like hair”. The question is what tenuis, a nominative, is referring to; it must be herba or any other feminine or masculine noun whereas holosteon is neuter.
By chance the plant is also described by Dioscorides’ De material medica, - 4, 11, ed. Wellmann (1938-63: II, 177) - ὁλόστεον /holósteon/ [[2]] with a very similar text, which suggests that both authors used the same source. Here Dioscorides says {sc. ἔχει …} ῥίζαν δὲ σφόδρα λεπτὴν ὡς τρίχα /{ékhei …} rhízan dè sphódra leptḕn hōs tríkha/ - “{It has} a root exceedingly fine like hair”. Dioscorides Longobardus 4, 11 ed. Stadler (1901: 14), De <o>liostion [[3]] translates: Radix est illi valde tenuis sicut filu - “its root is very thin like a thread”. Since the Dioscoridean text suggests that it is the root whose thinness is compared to grass modern editors tend to emend the text to: fel dulce, radice tenui – “with a tender root” or radice tenuis “{the plant is} tender with a root {like hair}”; but, as was said before, Simon’s text - in accord with the codices - lacks radice.

Botanical identification:

Berendes (1902: 372) suggets for identification either Plantago albicans L. “woolly plantain” [[4]]
or Holosteum umbellatum L. “jagged chickweed” [[5]], http://redbuttecanyon.net/introduced_images/h_umbellatum.jpg, [[6]].
André (1985: 125) s.v. holosteon suggests either Plantago bellardii All. [[7]], [[8]]
or the above-mentioned P. albicans.

WilfGunther (talk) 14:43, 30 November 2016 (GMT)

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