Of Halicarnassus, called the father of history. His Histories of the wars between Greece and Persia range over the known world, and preserve what travelers told of the Scythians’ hemp, the winged serpents that guarded the frankincense of Arabia, and the great birds that built their nests of cinnamon.
12 Entries in the Materia Medica
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- AlumPotassium aluminum sulfate.
- Cassia woodThe bark of Chinese cassia, Cinnamomum aromaticum (long known as Cinnamomum cassia); disti
- Castor-oil plant, seeds ofRicinus communis; Canale gives mirasole as its local name.
- CinnamonThe bark of Cinnamomum verum; “fine” cinnamon in the oil.
- FrankincenseThe resin of Boswellia sacra and related trees.
- GarlicAllium sativum.
- HempCannabis sativa.
- LabdanumThe resin of the rockrose, Cistus ladanifer and C. creticus.
- MyrrhThe resin of Commiphora myrrha.
- OnionAllium cepa.
- RadishGarden radish, Raphanus sativus (now classed by Kew as Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativu
- Storax calamiteThe resin of Styrax officinalis, packed in reeds (calami) for export.
