Note 66 — BOOK XVIII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF GRAIN.
John Bostock translation
“Herba pratensis.” It is not known with certainty to what plant he alludes. Fée suggests that it may be the Poa pratensis, or else a phleum, alopecurus, or dactylis. All the plants here mentioned by Pliny will thrive in a calcareous soil, and their presence, as Fée remarks, is of bad augury.