Fig. 549. Apple of Love

The Description.

            The Apple of Love bringeth forth very long round stalks or branches, fat and full of juice, trailing upon the ground, not able to sustain himself upright by reason of the tenderness of the stalks, and also the great weight of the leaves and fruit wherewith it is surcharged. The leaves are great and deeply cut or jagged about the edges, not unlike to the leaves of Agrimony, but greater, and of a whiter green colour: among which come forth yellow flowers growing upon short stems or footstalks, clustering together in bunches: which being fallen, there do come in place fair and goodly apples, chamfered, uneven, and bunched out in many places; of a bright shining red colour, and the bigness of a goose egg or a large pippin. The pulp or meat is very full of moisture, soft, reddish, and of the substance of a wheat plum. The seed is small, flat and rough: the root small and thready: the whole plant is of a rank and stinking savour.

            There hath happened unto my hands another sort, agreeing very notably with the former, as well in leaves and stalks as also in flowers and roots, only the fruit hereof was yellow of colour, wherein consisted the difference.

The Place.

            Apples of Love grow in Spain, Italy, and such hot countries, from whence myself have received seeds for my garden, where they do increase and prosper.

The Time.

            It is sown in the beginning of April in a bed of hot horse dung, after the manner of musk Melons and such like cold fruits.

The Names.

            The Apple of Love is called in Latin Pomium aureum, Poma amoris, and Lycopersicum: of some, Glaucium: in English, Apples of Love, and Golden Apples: in French, Pommes d'amours. Howbeit there be other golden apples whereof the poets do fable, growing in the gardens of the daughters of Hesperus, which a dragon was appointed to keep, who, as they fable, was killed by Hercules.

The Temperature.

            The Golden Apple, with the whole herb itself is cold, yet not fully so cold as Mandrake, after the opinion of Dodenæus. But in my judgement it is very cold, yea perhaps in the highest degree of coldness: my reason is, because I have in the hottest time of summer cut away the superfluous branches from the mother root, and cast them away carelessly in the alleys of my garden, the which (notwithstanding the extreme heat of the Sun, the hardness of the trodden alleys, and at that time when no rain at all did fall) have growne as fresh where I cast them, as before I did cut them off; which argueth the great coldness contained therein. True it is, that it doth argue also a great moisture wherewith the plant is possessed, but as I have said, not without great cold, which I leave to every man's censure.

The Virtues.

            A. In Spain and those hot regions they use to eat the apples prepared and boiled with pepper, salt, and oil: but they yield very little nourishment to the body, and the same nought and corrupt.

            B. Likewise they do eat the apples with oil, vinegar and pepper mixed together for sauce to their meat, even as we in these cold countries do mustard.