Vetonica
Complete text of entry:
Vetonica Plinius vetones invenitur in ispania, eam que vetonica dicitur in gallia, in Italia vero serrata a grecis cestros aut picotropon, sive psicroteron, ante cunctas laudatissima exit angulosa caule cubitorum duorum a radice spargens folia fere lapatii serrata semine purpureo folia siccantur in farina plurimos ad usus et cetera. Liber antiquus vetonica habet radices aliquatenus ad digiti crossitudinem et longas ramulos quadratos folia quasi quercus suaviter olentia florem purpureum semen circa ramulos in circuitu in modum spere nigrum, nascitur in pratis et montibus et cetera.
Translation of the whole entry:
Vetonica: according to Pliny {derives from} the Vetones in Spain, it is the plant which is called vetonica in Gaul, but in Italy serrata and by the Greeks cestros or picotropon {or psicroteron}. It is esteemed before all others. It comes out from the ground with an angular stem of two cubits length with leaves radiating from the root almost like lapathum {“dock” or “sorrel” species}, with serrated leaves and purple seed. The leaves are dried into a powder and have many medicinal uses, etc.
{Everett, see below, translates:}
“Betony is a plant that has roots about the thickness of a finger, long but slender square-shaped branches, leaves like the oak that are pleasingly fragrant, a purple flower, and a black seed that grows in a circle around the branches like some sort of spike {Simon: ‘ball’ or ‘sphere’}. … It grows in fields and upon mountains.”
Simon's text sectioned:
Plinius:
Vetonica Plinius vetones invenitur in ispania, eam que vetonica dicitur in gallia, in Italia vero serrata a grecis cestros aut picotropon, sive psicroteron, ante cunctas laudatissima exit angulosa caule cubitorum duorum a radice spargens folia fere lapatii serrata semine purpureo folia siccantur in farina plurimos ad usus et cetera.
Apparatus:
Vetonica ABC fjp | Veronica ms. e | Vettonica Pliny
vetones | uetone p | verones ms. e | ueteres f | Vettones Pliny
invenere B efj | | inuenitur AC | inuente p
ispania AC | yspania B efj | spaniã p
gallia | galia B
Italia AC | ytalia B efjp
serrata AC | seracla ep | sertacla j | feracla f | serada B | serratula Pliny
a grecis | a Graecis Pliny | agrestis B ejp
cestros | cistros f
picotropon B has stroke under p͢
sive psicroteron add. AC
ante cũctas A | aut concas (coctas B) BC | añ concras p | añ contas ef | añ cocturas j | ante cunctas Pliny
exit AC Pliny | erit B efjp
angulosa AC | angulosso f | anguloso B j Pliny | angulose ms. e | om. p
a radice | arabice ms. e
lapatii ABC | lapacii f | lapati ejp | lapathi Pliny
serrata AC ej Pliny| serata tñ B | seruata p | ferrata ftamen f
{serrata} cũ add. jp
folia siccantur ABC ejp Pliny | s. f. ms. f
in farina | in farinam Pliny
ad usus | aduersus B
et cetera om. ef
Translation:
Vetonica: according to Pliny {derives from} the Vetones in Spain, it is the plant which is called vetonica in Gaul, but in Italy serrata and by the Greeks cestros or picotropon {or psicroteron}. It is esteemed before all others. It comes out from the ground with an angular stem of two cubits length with leaves radiating from the root almost like lapathum {“dock” or “sorrel” species}, with serrated leaves and purple seed. The leaves are dried into a powder and have many medicinal uses, etc.
Commentary:
Simon’s entry is a near-verbatim quote from Pliny, 25, 46, 84, ed. Rackham (1938-63: VII.196).
A very similar plant description under the name of cestron is found in Dioscorides, cf. Cestron (1) q.v.
Vetonica:
Vetonica, according to Pliny is derived from the name of an Iberian people called the Vettones, Vectones in the region of Lusitania. Vet(t)onica has a later Latin variant betonica, cf. Simon’s Betonica, appearing in the literature from Vegetius (end of 4th c.) onward (André 1985: 271), s.v. uettōnica).
The naming motive is as such unclear since those plants often considered to be candidates for its identification have no particular distributional preference for the Iberian Peninsula; furthermore Pliny adds that the name is also used in Gaul.
The names ve(t)tonica, vectionia and betonica suffer sometimes contamination with the plant name britannica in late Antiquity; cf. Simon’s Britanica.
serrata:
In Pliny serratula, the diminutive of serra {“saw”}, meaning the “little saw” hinting at the serrated leaves of the plant. Serratula is also listed in Ps. Musa: De herba vettonica p. 10 [[1]].
cestros:
Greek κέστρον /késtron/, Latinised cestros with change of gender, for further information see Cestron (1) q.v., which includes a plant description by Dioscorides which is very similar to the one in Pliny’s Vettonica; Cestron (2)
picotropon, sive psicroteron:
Greek ψυχότροφον /psykhótrophon/ or ψυχρότροφον /psykhrótrophon/, a compound of ψῦχος {“cold, chill”} or ψυχρός /psykhrós/ {“cold” adj.} + a derivative of τρέφω /tréphō/ {“nourish”) > “chill nourishes it”, hinting at a preference for a cool habitat, see also Picotropon
This synonymy vetonica = cestron = p(s)icotrofon is confirmed by Dioscorides as well, cf. Simon’s entry Cestron (1); see also Betonica, Picotropon.
Simon's text sectioned:
Liber antiquus:
Liber antiquus vetonica radices habet aliquatenus ad digiti crossitudinem et longas ramulos quadratos folia quasi quercus suaviter olentia florem purpureum semen circa ramulos in circuitu in modum spere nigrum nascitur in pratis et montibus et cetera.
Apparatus:
antiquus | antiquns B {printing error}
vetonica | vetonicas f
vetonica habet radices aliquatenus om. p
radices habet | h. r. AC
aliquatenus | aliqualiter f
crossitudinem (-ẽ A) AC e | grossitudinem (-ẽ B fj) B fj | crassitudinẽ p
longas AC efp | longos B j
longas ramulos quadratos | l. q. r. ms. f
olentia | olencia f
spere B efjp | sp̰e AC | spicae Liber antiquus
et cetera om. B ef
Translation:
“Betony is a plant that has roots about the thickness of a finger, long but slender square-shaped branches, leaves like the oak that are pleasingly fragrant, a purple flower, and a black seed that grows in a circle around the branches like some sort of spike {Simon: ‘ball’ or ‘sphere’}. … It grows in fields and upon mountains.” (Everett).
Commentary:
The liber antiquus {“ancient book”} Simon mentions as his source turns out to be The Alphabet of Galen or Ps.Galenus ad paternianum, a source Simon freely acknowledges several times in other entries. His text is near identical with Everett’s in The Alphabet of Galen (2012: 370): “290) Vetonica".
It is also available online in the1542 Basel edition, column 343 [[2]].
Botanical identification:
Most modern authors see Stachys officinalis L. “betony” [[3]] in vettonica; cf. André op.cit.; Daems (1993: 121-2, 280); Beck (2005: 252): “IV,1 κέστρον /késtron/”.
For a more detailed discussion see Cestron (1).
WilfGunther (talk) 15:05, 17 March 2016 (GMT)
See also Cestron (1), Cestron (2), Betonica, Picotropon, Britanica
