Chamedryos

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Complete text of entry:

Chamedryos est dictu infima quercus humilis vel terrena, nam drya grece quercus: eo quod folia eius similia sunt foliis quercus, latini querculam minorem dicere possunt. Dyascorides cameropa aut camedris, nascitur in locis saxosis et asperis, frutex est illi bipalmis cum foliis minutis mente similibus vel drio .i. quercui et amaris florem habet purpureum et minutum et cetera. Plinius camedris herba est que latine trizaga dicitur, aliqui camacropem, alii teucriam appellavere, folia habet magnitudine mente colore et divisura quercus flore pene purpureo aliqui serratam dicunt: et ab ea serram inventam esse.


Simon's text sectioned:

Chamedryos est dictu infima quercus, humilis vel terrena, nam drya grece quercus: eo quod folia eius similia sunt foliis quercus, latini querculam minorem dicere possunt.


Apparatus:

Chamedryos AC | Camedreos B e

drya AC | draos B | dria e

grece quercus (quercus A) AC | grece quercus B | grece quarcus e

similia sunt e | similia sũt (sunt A) AC | habet sil'ia B


Translation:

Chamedryos in translation means "very low growing quercus {'oak'}", or diminutive or close to the earth, for Greek drys means in Latin quercus {"oak"}, because its leaves are similar to the leaves of quercus. Latin speakers could call it "the lesser little oak".


Commentary:

χαμαίδρυς /khamaídrys/ is a compound of χαμαί /khamaí/ "on the ground" + δρῦς /drŷs/ "oak". Simon offers several translations for χαμαί /khamaí/, i.e. infima, humilis, terrena. Chamedryos transcribes the Greek genitive χαμαίδρυος /khamaídryos/. Very often the genitival form was mistaken for the name of a plant, because in Ancient Greek many prepositions require the genitive, e.g. περί /perí/ + genitive = Latin de + ablative meaning "on {such & such plant}".


Simon's text sectioned:

Dyascorides cameropa aut camedris, nascitur in locis saxosis et asperis, frutex est illi bipalmis cum foliis minutis mente similibus vel drio .i. quercui et amaris florem habet purpureum et minutum et cetera.


Apparatus:

ĩ (in e) locis AC e | locis B

frutex A e | fructex BC

vel drio .i. quercui & AC| uel drio .i. quercus e | et drio .i. quercus ul' et B

et cetera om. e


Translation:

Dyascorides in his chapter on cameropa or camedris says, it grows in stony and rough places. It is a bush two palmi {"spans"} high with leaves similar to menta {"mint"} or drys {Greek for "oak"}, in Latin quercus, and they are bitter. It has a tiny purple flower.


Commentary:

Simon's excerpt is ultimately from Dioscorides Longobardus, 3, 108, ed. Stadler (1899: 423) De cameropa.

Cameropa < Greek χαμαίρωψ /khamaírōps/, is a compound of χαμαί /khamaí/ "on the ground" + ῥώψ /rhṓps/ "shrub, bush", Latinized chamaerops. The Longobardic form cameropa transcribes the Greek accustive χαμαίρωπα /khamaírōpa/. The word is also mentioned in Ps.-Apuleius, 24, ed. Howald (1927). HERBA CAMEDRIS; Nomina herbae. A Graecis dicitur camedris, … alii camerops - "The Greeks call it camedris, … other people call camerops."

Camedris is χαμαίδρυς /khamaídrys/, see above.

In the Longobardic translation the height of the plant is stated to be of only one palmus: unius palmi habens longitudinem - "having a length of one palmus". This is also the measurement given in the original Greek text, cf. 3, 98, ed. Wellmann (1906-14: II.110-1), χαμαíρωψ ἢ χαμαíδρυς /khamaírōps ḕ hamaídrys/, where it says: ἔστι δὲ θαμνίσκος σπιθαμιαῖος "it is a small shrub, one σπιθαμή /spithamḗ/ long". NB. 1 σπιθαμή /spithamḗ/ is the "space one can embrace between the thumb and little finger, span" (Liddell & Scott).

Also the comparison of the leaf to that of the mint's is not in the Dioscoridean texts, but anticipates Pliny's statement, which follows.


Simon's text sectioned:

Plinius camedris herba est que latine trizaga dicitur, aliqui camacropem, alii teucriam appellavere, folia habet magnitudine mente colore et divisura quercus flore pene purpureo aliqui serratam dicunt: et ab ea serram inventam esse.


Apparatus:

herba ē (est e) AC e | ē herba B

trizaga ACB e | trixago Pliny

camacropẽ (-pem e) ABC e {'e' misread as 'c' | chamaeropem Pliny

teucriaʒ A | teucriã C | teuchriam e | tẽcharã B | Teucriam Pliny


Translation:

Pliny says: camedris is a herb, which is called trizaga in Latin; some have called it camacrope and some teucria. It has leaves the size of menta {"mint sc. leaves"} and the colour and indentations of a quercus {"oak"} leaf. It has a flower that is near purple; some would call it {i.e. the leaf) serrated {i.e. notched like a saw}; and some people say that the invention of the saw was helped by the design of this leaf margin.


Commentary:

This excerpt is a near verbatim quote from Pliny, 24, 80, 130, ed. Rackham (1938-63: VII.92-4).

Simon's form trizaga is a corruption of trixago, a word also mentioned in Ps. Apuleius, 24, ed. Howald (1927: 64). HERBA CAMEDRIS; Nomina herbae. A Graecis dicitur camedris, . … Itali trixago maior - "The Greeks call it camedris, … the Italics trixago maior".

ed. Wellmann (1906-14: II.110) mentions RV: Ῥωμαῖοι τριξάγω μίνορ /Rhōmaîoi trixágō mínor/, a variant τριψαγω /tripsagō/ is also recorded, "the Romans call it trixago minor". The etymology of trixago is unexplained.

For camecrope see χαμαίρωψ /khamaírōps/ above.

Teucria is a feminine form of Latin teucrium or teucrion, which in turn is from Greek τεύκριον /teúkrion/. The word is also mentioned in the Greek Dioscorides, Wellmann, op. cit.: Τεύκριον /Teúkrion/. NB. In many editions the name is written with capital 'T', because some derive the name from the Trojan hero Teucer, Greek Τεῦκρος /Teûkros/, but this etymology is disputed. Teucrion is also mentioned in Ps.-Apuleius, op. cit.: XXIV. HERBA CAMEDRIS; Nomina herbae. A Graecis dicitur camedris, … alii Teucrion - "The Greeks call it camedris, … other people call Teucrion".

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