σπέρματος . . . ῥίζαν: “Seed root,” origin.
ἔχοντα: So Aristarchos. The MSS. have ἔχοντι, which some Scholiasts take as ἔχουσι, while others note the change from dat. (ἔχοντι) to acc. (τὸν Αἰνησιδάμου), a change which, however natural from substantive to participle, is not natural from participle to substantive.