many garments. And this beginning of buddings is fairenesse of earth, for all gréene things, ye spring of the earth come of budding, and is signe & token of chan∣ging of time, & of comming of noueltye of springing time, and warneth that win∣ter goeth, & Summer commeth with no∣ueltie of fairenesse. And sometime bud∣ding of buds be gnawen & fret with flies great and small, and with other worms, and then is no hope of fruit.Of Gramine. cap. 76.GRamen is a field hearbe, and hath that name, for it buddeth, as Isid. saith, all hearbs be gendered of humour of ye earth by goodnesse of heate, for the heat of hea∣uen commeth within the earth, & gathe∣reth the most subtill parts thereof, & tur∣neth them into kind of roots, which pight in the ground, closet heate within them∣selues, and draweth by vertue therof hu∣mour of the ground about to increasing & nourishing of the same roote, and turneth what is like thereto into kind of it selfe, & sendeth the superfluitie to generation of leaues & of branches. And for roots be many fold, that come of the humour, that is drawne by reason of moisture of the matter, therefore many hearbs & diuers spring of the budding, & grow together, & heale all the ground about, and aray it with gréene colour, & with flowres. And the deeper the rootes of hearbes be in the ground, the wider about stalks & leaues of hearbes spring and spread. In the be∣ginning of springing of hearbes, they multiply themselues right fast, if they bée not pared and ropt, and helde lowe: and if they be suffered in the beginning to grow too fast, then they spire and séed too soone, and leese: too soone their fairenesse & gréene coulour, as Plinius sayeth. And hearbes take diuers qualitie and vertues of the grounde that they growe in, and of qualitie of the humour that they be fed and nourished with, as Plinius, Isaac, and other Authors meane. Therefore of humours with contrarye complections, sometime hearbes and grasse and all that springeth of the earth taketh varieng and diuerse working and vertue, as Plinius, Const. Isaac, and others Authors meane. Therefore as the same Authors meane, hearbes of mountaynes and of high pla∣ces, be thinner and shorter then hearbes of Ualleys and of Medes, but these bée good and according to shéepe, for they bée swéete and wholesome, and meanely drye. And those that growe in marreys, and in moores bée more fat and large. But hearbes that growe in mountaines and high plates bée best of all. For as I∣saac and Constantine saye, hearbes of moores and marreys feed and nourish not best, for they brade watry bloud, and dis∣solue themselues soone from the mem∣bers, and bréede swelling and gnawing and curling in the guts: But in contra∣ryes be contrary doings. It is a rule as Isaac saith, ye rule is this. Among hearbs if the roote nourisheth, the séede thereof nourisheth not. And if the séede of an hearbe nourisheth, the roote thereof nou∣risheth not. And grasse commeth of the graine, and is pleasing in sight, and liking to beasts in pasture and meate, & comfor∣teth the sicke in doing, for as in roots, so in hearbes and grasse be many manner vertues, as Palla, saith. Hearbes & grasse loue sterne wether, raine, & great showrs, for heate and colour of hearbs néed much moisture. Hearbs & grasse grow & spread in wilde places, & fade without in strong cold, & in North wind, and fordry & faile, as Beda saith. And Dioscorides sayeth, a certaine hearb, and specially that that is called Gramen, hath knots and braun∣ches spreading on the ground, and broad leaues, and some deale sharp, and the roote thereof is knottie and sweete Oxen and other beasts eate gladly of the hearb, and the vertue thereof bindeth, and also hea∣leth and closeth wounds, and bindeth and stoppeth the wombe, and healeth sores of the bladder and reines, and abateth ach of the splene. Hounds know this hearb, and eate it to purge themselues, but they doe it so priuely, that vnneth men spie it.(Additiō.Gramen Arundinaceum, the redde grasse. Gramen Marmum, our Ladyes quishion. Gramen Parnassi, grasse of Parnassus. Read Dodoneus. fol. 510.)0