Chap. 44 (23.) — The Capparis or Cynosbaton, Otherwise Ophiostaphyle
In Egypt, too, the capparis993 is found, a shrub with a wood of much greater solidity. The seed of it is a well-known article of food,994 and is mostly gathered together with the stalk. It is as well, however, to be on our guard against the foreign kinds;995 for that of Arabia has certain deleterious properties, that from Africa is injurious to the gums, and that from Marmarica is prejudicial to the womb and causes flatulence in all the organs. That of Apulia, too, is productive of vomiting, and causes derangement in the stomach and intestines. Some persons call this shrub “cynosbaton,”996 others, again, “ophiostaphyle.”997