Tife (2)

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Tife Dya. folia habet cyperi similia virgam lenem supra quam virgam capitellum est flore plenum spisso in quo *capitelli(1) {read: capelli} albi sunt quam multi dicunt attelim.

  1. Simon's text corruptedly says: capitelli "flower-heads", an error no doubt triggered by perseverance of the preceding phonetically similar capitellum, cf. capitelli ~ capelli. The source text in Dioscorides Longobardus makes it clear that it is indeed capelli "hair(s)".


Translation:

Tife {Typha species}: according to Dyascorides it has leaves similar to cyperus {a kind of rush} and a soft stalk, and at the end of the stalk there is a {flower} head, full of flowers and {arranged} densely like white hair, which many call attelim {anthele}.


Commentary:

Typhe, tife represents the Greek τύφη /týphē/ glossed by LSJ "a plant used for stuffing bolsters and beds, reed mace, Typha angustata" and attelim = ανθήλη /anthḗlē/ "the silky flower-tufts of the reed".

This is a near verbatim quote from ultimately Dioscorides Longonbardus, 3, 128, ed. Stadler (1899: 430), De tyfe. Tyfe {v.l. Tife} folia habet quiperi {v.l. cyperi} similis et virga lene, supra qua virga capitellus est, flore plenus et spissu et ut capilli albi sunt, quem multi dicunt altelin {v.l. attellim}.

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