Both the root and bean of the nymphæa nelumbo or red lotus,[1450] were eaten in Egypt,[1451] where its crimson flowers were woven into crowns which diffused an agreeable odour, and were considered exceedingly refreshing in the heat of summer.[1452] This plant was by the Greeks of Naucratis denominated the melilotus, to distinguish it from the lotus with white flowers. Theophrastus[1453] observes, that it grows in the marshes to the height of four cubits, and has a striped root and stem. This lotus was also anciently found in Syria and Cilicia, but did not there ripen. In the environs of Toronè in Chalcidice,[1454] however, it was found in perfection in a small marsh. ----- Footnote 1450: The rose-coloured lotus was said by the poet Pancrates to have been produced from the blood of the lion slain by the Emperor Adrian. Athen. xv. 21. Footnote 1451: Athen. iii. 1. Footnote 1452: Nicander in Georgicis ap. Athen. iii. 1. Σπείρειας κύαμον Αἰγύπτιον, ὄφρα θερείης Ἅνθεα μὲν στεφάνους ἀνύῃς· τὰ δὲ πεπτηῶτα Ἀκμαίου καρποῖο κιβώρια δαινυμένοισιν Ἐς χέρας ἠΐθεοισι, πάλαι ποθέουσιν, ὀρέξης Ῥίζας δ᾽ ἐν θοίνῃσιν ἀφεψήσας προτίθημι. See the note of Schweighæuser, t. vii. 10. Footnote 1453: Histor. Plant. iv. 10. Footnote 1454: It was also found in Thesprotia. Athen. iii. 3. ----- The lupin,[1455] and the caper-bush, probably cultivated for the beauty of its delicate white flowers,[1456] deteriorated in gardens,[1457] as did likewise the mallows,[1458] which, together with the beet, were said to acquire in gardens the height of a small tree.[1459] The stem of the mallows was sometimes used as a walking stick. Its large pale red flower which Follows with its bending head the sun,[1460] constituted one of the ornaments of the garden. ----- Footnote 1455: Geop. ii. 39. Apuleius relates that the lupin-flower turned round with the sun, even in cloudy weather, so that it served as a sort of rural clock. Cf. Plin. xviii. 67. Footnote 1456: The caper-bush blossoms in June. Chandler, ii. 275. Footnote 1457: Theoph. Hist. Plant. i. 3. 6. Cf. Sibth. Flor. Græc. tab. 488. Footnote 1458: Athen. ii. 52. Footnote 1459: Theoph. Hist. Plant. i. 9. 2. Cf. vii. 3, 3. Hesiod reckons the mallow and the asphodel among edible plants. Opp. et Dies, 41. Gœttling, therefore, (in loc.) wonders Pythagoras should have prohibited the mallow. Cf. Aristoph. Plut. 543. Suid. v. θύμος. t. 1. p. 1336. e. Horat. Od. i. 32. 16. Footnote 1460: