ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, III. in. 4-6 



Most trees are fruit-bearing, but about willow 

 black poplar and elm men hold different opinions, 

 as was said l ; and some, as the Arcadians, say that only 

 the black poplar is without fruit, but that all the 

 other mountain trees bear fruit. However in Crete 

 there are a number of black poplars which bear fruit 2 ; 

 there is one at the mouth of the cave on mount Ida, 3 

 in which the dedicatory offerings are hung, and 

 there is another small one not far off, and there are 

 quite a number about a spring called the Lizard's 

 Spring about twelve furlongs off. There are also 

 some in the hill-country of Ida in the same neigh- 

 bourhood, in the district called Kindria and in the 

 mountains about Praisia. 4 Others again, as the 

 Macedonians, say that the elm is the only tree of this 

 class which bears fruit. 



Again the character of the position makes a great 

 difference as to fruit-bearing, as in the case of the 

 persea 5 and the date-palm. The persea of Egypt 

 bears fruit, and so it does wherever it grows in the 

 neighbouring districts, but in Rhodes 6 it only gets 

 as far as flowering. The date-palm in the neighbour- 

 hood of Babylon is marvellously fruitful ; in Hellas it 

 does not even ripen its fruit, and in some plices it 

 does not even produce any. 



The same may be said of various other trees : in 

 fact even 7 of smaller herbaceous plants and bushes 

 some are fruitful, others not, although the latter are 



4 Upaiffiav conj. Meurs. Greta ; npaaiav UMVAld. 

 6 c/. 4. 2. 5. Trepcrecu conj. R. Const.; -nepffflas U; Trepffias 

 Aid. 



6 'PtSy conj. R. Const, from G, BO too Plin. 16. Ill ; pta 

 Aid. cf. 1. 13. 5. for a similar corruption. 



7 Ve{ J conj. Sch. from G ; eVei 5e Kal Aid. 



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