Policaria

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Policaria dixit mihi greca herbaria quod vocatur grece comisca sed apud Dyascoridem vocatur coniza ut supra in co.


Apparatus:

comisca A | cõisca C | conisea e | cõisea B {coniza misread as comisca/conisea} | conixea (coinxea?) f

{Dyascoridem} vocatur om. f

coniza ef | cõiza BC | comiza A


Translation:

A Greek herbal tells me that policaria is called comisca in Greek, but in Dyascorides it is called coniza; see the entry above Coniza.


Commentary and botanical identification:

Simon is here alluding to Dyascorides alphabeticus, Fondation Bodmer, f 31r Coniza, of which the ultimate source is Dioscorides Longobardus, 3, 131, ed. Stadler (1899: III.430-1) chapter ΡΛΛ' {sic! better: ΡΛΑ'} De coniza. The original Greek is in 3, 121, ed. Wellmann (1906-14: II.131-1), κόνυζα /kónyza/.

Policaria or pulicaria is clearly derived from Latin pulex "flea". Simon goes to great lengths in his entry Pulicaris to state that pulicaris is a different plant from policaria. Naturally a subtle phonetic distinction like this would always invite confusion, and the two names are used interchangeably by most authors. André (1956: 264) s.v. pūlicāria and pūlicāris equates both words with psyllium, i.e. Plantago psyllium L. "fleawort".

But here the word is explicitly stated to be the equivalent of Greek coniza, q.v.

Wilf Gunther 12/01/14


See also: Coniza, Pulicaris, Psilium


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