Chap. 4.] VAEIETIES OF THE VINE. 229 



ably stout in its resistance to rain and the effects of old age, 

 though it will hardly produce wine every year ; it is remark- 

 able for the abundant crops which it bears, though the grapes 

 are held but in small esteem for eating. The vine known as 

 the " metica" lasts well for years, and offers a successful re- 

 sistance to all changes of weather ; the grape is black, and the 

 wine assumes a tawny hue when old. 



(3.) The varieties that have been mentioned thus far are 

 those that are generally known ; the others belong to peculiar 

 countries or individual localities, or else are of a mixed nature, 

 the produce of grafting. Thus the vine known as the " Tuder- 

 nis," 75 is peculiar to the districts of Etruria, and so too is the 

 vine that bears the name of " Florentia." At Arretium the 

 talpona, the etesiaca, and the consemina, are particularly ex- 

 cellent. 76 The talpona, 77 which is a black grape, produces a 

 pale, straw-coloured 78 must : the etesiaca 79 is apt to deceive ; 

 the more the wine it produces the better the quality, but it 

 is a remarkable fact, that just as it has reached that point its 

 fecundity ceases altogether. The consemina 80 bears a black 

 grape, but its wine will not keep, though the grape itself is 

 a most excellent keeper ; it is gathered fifteen days later than 

 any other kind of grape : this vine is very fruitful, but- its 

 grape is only good for eating. The leaves of this tree, like 

 those of the wild vine, turn the colour of blood just before the 

 fall : the same is the case also with some 81 other varieties, but 

 it is a proof that they are of very inferior quality. 



The irtiola 82 is a vine peculiar to Umbria and the terri- 



75 Hardouin thinks that it is so called from Tuder, a town of Etruria. 

 See B. iii. c. 19. 



76 Sillig suggests that the reading here is corrupt, and that Pliny 

 means to say that the vine called Florentia is particularly excellent, and 

 merely to state that the talpona, &c, are peculiar to Arretium : for, as 

 he says, speaking directly afterwards in disparagement of them, it is not 

 likely he would pronounce them "opima," of "first-rate quality." 



77 From " talpa," a " mole," in consequence of its black colour. 



78 "Album." 



79 Probably so called from the Etesian winds, which improved its growth. 



80 Perhaps meaning " double-seeded." We may here remark, that the 

 wines of Tuscany, though held in little esteem in ancient times, are highly 

 esteemed at the present day, 



81 The leaves of most varieties turn red just before the fall. 



82 And Baccius thinks that this is the kind from which the raisins of the 



