'Even if the eyes have been plucked out...'. Swallowwort, Chelidonium majus, and Apis mellifera, Honeybee, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Though that great naturalist of Antiquity, Pliny the Elder (23-79), perpetuated lots of myths about natural phenomena, he could voice his doubts as well. A good instance is his description of Swallowwort, Chelidonium majus. 'Chelidonium' or 'Hirundinaria' refers to Swallow, and it was thought that those birds swathed that plant's sap on the still closed eyes of their young nestlings to open them. That story is repeated in Pliny's Naturalis historia, and to be complete he adds that Swallowwort restores sight 'even if their eyes have been plucked out'; but sceptical about that claim he parenthetically adds: 'ut quidam volunt', 'as some persons will have it'.
This is Swallowwort in the Hortus of Amsterdam being visited for pollen by a Honeybee, Apis mellifera - regard its corbicula - probably from one of the beehives placed on the edge of the garden.
'Even if the eyes have been plucked out...'. Swallowwort, Chelidonium majus, and Apis mellifera, Honeybee, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Though that great naturalist of Antiquity, Pliny the Elder (23-79), perpetuated lots of myths about natural phenomena, he could voice his doubts as well. A good instance is his description of Swallowwort, Chelidonium majus. 'Chelidonium' or 'Hirundinaria' refers to Swallow, and it was thought that those birds swathed that plant's sap on the still closed eyes of their young nestlings to open them. That story is repeated in Pliny's Naturalis historia, and to be complete he adds that Swallowwort restores sight 'even if their eyes have been plucked out'; but sceptical about that claim he parenthetically adds: 'ut quidam volunt', 'as some persons will have it'.
This is Swallowwort in the Hortus of Amsterdam being visited for pollen by a Honeybee, Apis mellifera - regard its corbicula - probably from one of the beehives placed on the edge of the garden.