ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, III. xvn. 3-5 



The tree found about Mount Ida, called koloitia, 1 

 is a distinct kind and is shrubby and branching with 

 many boughs ; but it is rather rare. It has a leaf 

 like that of the ' broad-leaved ' bay, 2 but rounder 

 and larger, so that it looks like that of the elm, 

 but it is more oblong : the colour on both sides is 

 green, but the base is whitish ; in this part it is 

 very fibrous, because of its fine fibres which spring 

 partly from the midrib, 3 partly between the ribs 4 

 (so to call them) which run out from the midrib. 

 The bark is not smooth but like that of the vine ; 

 the wood is hard and close, the roots are shallow 

 slender and spreading, (though sometimes they are 

 compact), and they are very yellow. They say that 

 this shrub has no fruit nor flower, but has its knobby 

 winter-bud and its ' eyes ' ; these grow alongside of 

 the leaves, and are very smooth glossy and white, 

 and in shape are like a winter-bud. When the tree 

 is cut or burnt down, it grows from the side and 

 springs up again. 



There are also three trees peculiar to Mount Ida, 

 the tree called Alexandrian laurel, a sort of fig, and a 

 ' vine ' (currant grape). The peculiarity of the laurel 

 is that it bears fruit on its leaves, like the ' prickly 

 myrtle ' (butcher's broom) : both have their fruit on 

 the midrib of the leaf. 



The ' fig ' 5 is shrubby and not tall, but so thick 

 that the stem is a cubit in circumference. The wood 

 is twisted and tough ; below it is smooth and un- 

 branched, above it has thick foliage : the colour both 



3 IK re TTJS ax ' ft ' J KC ^ conj. W. ; Kal TCUS j)(ais Kal Aid. cj. 

 3. 10. 3, and e/c TTJS ^ax^'wj below, 3. 17. 4. 



4 irAei/poeiSuif : TT\vpoftS(i)S CODJ. St. 



6 See Index. Plin. 15. 68 ; cj. Athen. 3. 11. 



267 



