The iris is a plant of a caustic nature, and when handled, it causes blisters like burns to rise. It is a point particularly recommended, that those who gather it should be in a state of chastity. The root, not only when dried,[1992] but while still in the ground, is very quickly attacked by worms. In former times, it was Leucas and Elis that supplied us with the best oil[1993] of iris, for there it has long been cultivated; at the present day, however, the best comes from Pamphylia, though that of Cilicia and the northern climates is held in high esteem. CHAP. 20.—THE SALIUNCA. The saliunca[1994] has a rather short leaf, which does not admit of its being plaited for garlands, and numerous roots, by which it is held together; being more of a herb than a flower, and so closely matted and tangled that it would almost appear to have been pressed together with the hand—in short, it is a turf[1995] of a peculiar nature. This plant grows in Pannonia and the sunny regions of Noricum and the Alps, as also the vicinity of the city of Eporedia;[1996] the smell being so remarkably sweet that the crops of it have been of late quite as profitable as the working of a mine. This plant is particularly valued for the pleasant smell it imparts to clothes among which it is kept. CHAP. 21.—THE POLIUM, OR TEUTHRION. It is the same, too, with the polium,[1997] a herb employed for a similar purpose among the Greeks, and highly extolled by Musæus and Hesiod, who assert that it is useful for every purpose, and more particularly for the acquisition of fame and honour;[1998] indeed, it is a truly marvellous production, if it is the fact, as they state, that its leaves are white in the morning, a purple at midday, and azure[1999] at sunset. There are two varieties of it, the field polium, which is larger, and the wild,[2000] which is more diminutive. Some persons give it the name of “teuthrion.”[2001] The leaves resemble the white hairs of a human being; they take their rise immediately from the root, and never exceed a palm in height. CHAP. 22. (8.)—FABRICS WHICH RIVAL THE COLOURS OF FLOWERS.