Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
An Irish Materia Medica (Author: Tadhg Ó Cuinn)

subsection 2

Macer Floridus

The next source most quoted from by Ó Cuinn was the De Viribus Herbarum of Macer Floridus (printed by Choulant, 1832). This is an account believed to have been written early in the 11th century, in Latin hexameter verse, of the medicinal uses of some 77 plants. The name, Macer Floridus, is a pseudonym, reflecting the name of Aemilius Macer, who died in 15 B.C., and who wrote a similar poem about plants, which no longer survives. The author's real name is believed to have


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been Odo Magdunensis, i.e. Odo from Meung on the Loire, who lived in the first part of the 11th century.

Choulant prints some articles which he believes to have been interpolated into Macer's text by later scribes, and which he refers to as ‘Spuria Macri’.

Rufinus included many extracts from Macer's poem in his own compilation.

I have not as yet read the new edition of Macer's poem, edited by Roberto Trifogli and published in Rome in 1958 (British Library reference, under ‘Macer (Aemilius) pseud.’, 7322 h. 8).