ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, I. v. 4 -vi. 2 



as that of the silver-fir, while others are rather break- 

 able, 1 sucli as the wood of the olive. Again some 

 are without knots, 2 as the stems of elder, others 

 have knots, as those of fir and silver-fir. 



Now such differences also must be ascribed to the 

 essential character of the plant : for the reason why 

 the wood of silver-fir is easily split is that the 

 grain is straight, while the reason why olive-wood is 

 easily broken 3 is that it is crooked and hard. Lime- 

 wood and some other woods on the other hand are 

 easily bent because their sap is viscid. 4 Boxwood 

 and ebony are heavy because the grain is close, and 

 oak because it contains mineral matter. 5 In like 

 manner the other peculiarities too can in some way 

 be referred to the essential character. 



Farther ' special ' differences. 



VI. Again there are differences in the 'core' : in 

 the first place according as plants have any or have 

 none, as some say 6 is the case with elder among other 

 things ; and in the second place there are differences 

 between those which have it, since in different plants 

 it is respectively fleshy, woody, or membranous ; 

 fleshy, as in vine fig apple pomegranate elder ferula ; 

 woody, as in Aleppo pine silver-fir fir ; in the last- 

 named 7 especially so, because it is resinous. Harder 

 again and closer than these is the core of dog- wood 

 kermes-oak oak laburnum mulberry ebony nettle- 

 tree. 



The cores in themselves also differ in colour ; for 

 that of ebony and oak is black, and in fact in 

 the oak it is called ' oak-black'; and in all these the 

 core is harder and more brittle than the ordinary 



7 avr-n conj. Sch.; avrri UAld.; UUTT) MV ; OUTIJS P 2 . 



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