Corudam

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Corudam Plinius intelligo enim silvestrem asparagum quem greci orminum aut miachanton vocant aliis ve nominibus invenio nasci et arietinis cornibus tunsis atque defossis et cetera.


Apparatus:

Corudam (-dã A; Corudã? p) AC efp | Corudaz B {"sideways 'm'" = ʒ misread as 'z'}

{Corudam} Iohãnes sera͞p add. e

intelligo (ĩ- A) AC efp | ĩteligo B

{intelligo} est add. e

quem (quẽ A f) AC f | quã (quam B p) B ep

orminum (-nũ A f) AC f | ozminum (-nũ B) B p | oriniuʒ ms. e {'min' misread as 'rini'} | ὅρμινον /hórminon/ Pliny

miachãton AC | machãton B f | macãtõ p | mãcãtõ ms. e | μυάκανθον /myákanthon/ Pliny

ve (ue B) ABC p | qʒ f | uero ms. e

inuenio (ĩ- A) AC Pliny | invento ms. e | inuẽto (ĩuento f; ĩuẽto B) B fp

arietinis ABC ef | arietiniis p

tunsis AC | tussis B | tusis f | acutis {corrected to} tusis p | rusis ms. e

defossis ABC fp | defosis e

et cetera om. ef


Translation:

Concerning Coruda, Pliny says: I understand coruda to mean the wild asparagus, which the Greeks call orminum or miachanton and by other names. I find in the literature that ram's horns crushed and buried in the ground make coruda sprout up.


Commentary:

Simon's entry is a near-verbatim quote from Pliny, 19, 42, 151, ed. Rackham (1938-63: V.518), on asparagus.

Latin corruda, variant conruda, is attested as early as in Cato's De agri cultura and is mentioned apart from Pliny by other more specifically agricultural authors like Varro and Columella. The latter, Columella, 11, 3, 43, ed. Ash et al (2001: III), De re rustica, speaks of: sativi asparagi, et quam corrudam rustici vocant – "the cultivated asparagus, and the one the country people call corruda", marking it as a rustic word. Its etymology is unexplained.

Pliny mentions two Greek words for the plant, i.e. ὅρμινον /hórminon/ and μυάκανθον /myákanthon/ for which see Miacantum.

Greek ὅρμινον /hórminon/, Latinised horminum, also denotes some plants other than wild asparagus, for which see Orminon (1), Orminon (2)

Pliny must have consulted the same source(s) as Dioscorides because he confirms the synonymy, 2, 125, ed. Wellmann (1906-14: I.197): ἀσπάραγος πετραῖος ἢ μυάκανθος οἱ δὲ ὅρμινον καλοῦσιν /apáragos petraîos ḕ myákanthos, hoi dè hórminon kaloûsin/ - "rock asparagus or myacanthus, some people call it horminon".

Further proof of both authors having used the same source(s) is found in Dioscorides' entry on asparagus, where he also states that crushed ram's horns when buried makes asparagus shoot up: κριοῦ κέρατα συγκόψας κατορύξῃ, φύεται ἀσπάραγος /krioû kérata synkópsas katorýxē phýetai apáragos/ - cf. 2, 125, ed. Wellmann (1906-14: I.197-8). This is also restated in the Longobardic translation, 2, 109, ed. Stadler (1899: 221), De sparagu, where it says: Alii vero dicunt cornu hircinu, si contusu spargatur, sparagos nasci facit - "But others say that goat's buck horn when well crushed and strewn over the ground makes sparagos grow".


Botanical identification:

André (1985) mentions as the most likely candidate Asparagus officinalis L. [[1]] in its wild form, but he also considers Asparagus aphyllus L. [[2]], Asparagus tenuifolius L. [[3]] and Asparagus acutifolius L. [[4]], [[5]], [[6]], [[7]]. N.b. The vernacular name "wild asparagus" can refer to the wild ancestral form of A. officinalis, which is still eaten in some parts of Europe, but it is also used for A. acutifolius.

WilfGunther 18:27, 19 November 2014 (UTC)


See also: Asparagus (1), Miacantum, Orminon (1), Orminon (2)

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