Note (26) — BOOK I.
James Greive translation
26. Lotus.) There are several species of this mentioned by ancient authors; but the particular kind intended here seems to be the lotus Ægyptius, growing in the water, with a stalk resembling the cyamus. It has a root like a quince, and is eaten both raw and boiled, and in the last way, in quality, it is like the white of an egg. The Egyptians make bread of its head, which resembles poppy.—See Dioscorid. lib. iv. cap. 696. and Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xiii. cap. 17 and 18.