ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, III. xv. 3-5 



that there is a certain hill which is covered with 

 terebinths,, though nothing else grows on it. It has 

 tough wood and strong roots which run deep, and the 

 tree as a whole is impossible to destroy. The flower 

 is like that of the olive, but red in colour. The leaf 

 is made up of a number of leaflets, 1 like bay leaves, 

 attached in pairs to a single leaf-stalk. So far it 

 resembles the leaf of the sorb ; there is also the 

 extra leaflet at the tip : but the leaf is more angular 

 than that of the sorb, and the edge resembles 

 more the leaf of the bay ; the leaf is glossy all 

 over, 2 as is the fruit. It bears also some hollow 

 bag-like 3 growths, like the elm, in which are found 

 little creatures like gnats ; and resinous sticky 

 matter is found also in these bags ; but the resin is 

 gathered from the wood and not from these. The 

 fruit does not discharge much resin, but it clings to 

 the hands, and, if it is not washed after gathering, it 

 all sticks together ; if it is washed, the part which is 

 white and unripe floats, 4 but the black part sinks. 



The box is not a large tree, and it has a leaf like 

 that of the myrtle. It grows in cold rough places ; 

 for of this character is Cytora, 5 where it is most 

 abundant. The Macedonian Olympus is also a cold 

 region; 6 for there too it grows, though not to a 

 great size. It is largest and fairest in Corsica, 7 

 where the tree grows taller and stouter than anywhere 

 else ; wherefore the honey there is not sweet, as it 

 smells of the box. 



4 fTrnrXfl conj. R. Const, from G ; tirl irXetov Aid.; eVl 

 (erased) IT. 

 6 c/. Cytore buxifer, Catull. 4. 13 ; Plin. 16. 70. 



6 c/. 5. 7. 7. 



7 Kvpixf conj. R. Const, from Plin. I.e.; Kvpr^ui U; 

 Aid. 



257 



