Kunte
Kunte arabice affodillus.
Apparatus:
Kunte (Kũte p) AB ep | Khunte C f | Kunthe j
affodillus | afodilus B
Translation:
Kunte is Arabic for Latin affodillus.
Commentary:
Siggel (1950: 33): ﺳﺮﻳﺶ - ﺧﻧﺛﻰ /ḫunṯā/ – /sirīš/ Ornithogalum stachyoides (Lil.) [[1]] oder Asphodelus ramosus (Lil.) [[2]] {i.e. two different species, the "Narbonne Star-of-Bethlehem" and the "Branched asphodel"}.
The Latin word asphodelus/asphodilus, here in its common medieval form affodillus, is - as so often with Latin plant names - adopted from Greek, in this case ἀσφόδελος /asphódelos/, a word of unkown etymology.
Botanical identification:
Greek ἀσφόδελος /asphódelos/ denotes one or several members of the genus Asphodelus [[3]]. Sometimes it is identified as Asphodelus ramosus L. "white or branched asphodel" [[4]]. Its distribution is the Mediterranean region and South-Eastern Europe.
WilfGunther 17/04/2013
See also: Afodillus. For a different transcription of ﺧﻧﺛﻰ /ḫunṯā/ see Chunte.
