(On the properties of plants), also known by the author's pseudonym, Macer Floridus, is a Latin hexameter poem on the properties of herbs. It was written, probably by Odo of Meung-sur-Loire, in the 11th century. It was still in scholarly use as late as the 16th century, but was superseded by more comprehensive herbals.
Translations The herbal was translated first into Hebrew, then also German, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Italian, and Spanish.
A Middle English version of the poem was translated by John Lelamour, a schoolmaster from Hereford, in the fourteenth century.
Sources The original poem lists 77 plants and their properties; it is accompanied by 20 additional items known as "Spuria", which were added later. The ultimate source of most of the information is Pliny's Historia naturalis, though Odo may have come to this information second-hand, possibly through the Roman writer Gargilius Martialis.
See also
Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum Treatise on Herbs
Further reading
References
External links Beinecke MS 823, a fully digitized twelfth-century copy of De Viribus Herbarum A digitized copy of the first printed edition (Naples, 1477) , a critical edition of the poem