"[Plin. Nat. 24.76.] - THE RHAMNOS; TWO VARIETIES OF IT: FIVE REMEDIES.
Among the several kinds of bramble is reckoned the plant called “rhamnos” by the Greeks. One variety of it is whiter than the other, and has a more shrublike appearance, throwing out branches armed with straight thorns, and not hooked, like those of the other kinds; the leaves too are larger. The other kind, which is found growing wild, is of a more swarthy hue, in some measure inclining to red; it bears too a sort of pod. With the root of it boiled in water a medicament is made, known as “lycium:” the seed of it is useful for bringing away the after-birth. The white kind, however, is of a more astringent and cooling nature, and better adapted for the treatment of gatherings and wounds. The leaves of both kinds, either raw or boiled, are employed topically with oil.”
(The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.)