All garden plants grow either from seed or from slips, and some from both seed and suckers, such as rue, wild marjoram, and ocimum,[1084] for example—this last being usually cut when it is a palm in height. Some kinds, again, are reproduced from both seed and root, as in the case of onions, garlic, and bulbs, and those other plants of which, though annuals themselves, the roots retain their vitality. In those plants which grow from the root, it lives for a considerable time, and throws out offsets, as in bulbs, scallions, and squills for example.—Others, again, throw out offsets, though not from a bulbous root, such as parsley and beet, for instance. When the stalk is cut, with the exception[1085] of those which have not a rough stem, nearly all these plants put forth fresh shoots, a thing that may be seen in ocimum,[1086] the radish,[1087] and the lettuce,[1088] which are in daily use among us; indeed, it is generally thought that the lettuce which is grown from a fresh sprouting, is the sweetest. The radish, too, is more pleasant eating when the leaves have been removed before it has begun to run to stalk. The same is the case, too, with rape; for when the leaves are taken off, and the roots well covered up with earth, it grows all the larger for it, and keeps in good preservation till the ensuing summer. CHAP. 37.—PLANTS OF WHICH THERE IS BUT A SINGLE KIND. PLANTS OF WHICH THERE ARE SEVERAL KINDS. Of ocimum, lapathum, blite, cresses, rocket, orage, coriander, and anise respectively, there is but a single kind, these plants being the same everywhere, and no better in one place than in another. It is the general belief that stolen[1089] rue grows the best, while, on the other hand, bees[1090] that have been stolen will never thrive. Wild mint, cat-mint, endive, and pennyroyal, will grow even without any cultivation. With reference to the plants of which we have already spoken, or shall have occasion to speak, there are numerous varieties of many of them, parsley more particularly. (8.) As to the kind of parsley[1091] which grows spontaneously in moist localities, it is known by the name of “helioselinum;”[1092] it has a single leaf[1093] only, and is not rough at the edges. In dry places, we find growing the kind known as “hipposelinum,”[1094] consisting of numerous leaves, similar to helioselinum. A third variety is the oreoselinum,[1095] with leaves like those of hemlock, and a thin, fine, root, the seed being similar to that of anise, only somewhat smaller. The differences, again, that are found to exist in cultivated parsley,[1096] consist in the comparative density of the leaves, the crispness or smoothness of their edges, and the thinness or thickness of the stem, as the case may be: in some kinds, again, the stem is white, in others purple, and in others mottled. CHAP. 38.—THE NATURE AND VARIETIES OF TWENTY-THREE GARDEN PLANTS. THE LETTUCE; ITS DIFFERENT VARIETIES.