ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, III. xvm. 11-13 



is like the slrykhnos 1 and the melothron (bryony), 

 and most of all like the berry which is called the 

 ' wild grape ' (bryony). The clusters hang down as 

 in the ivy, but the regular setting ' 2 of the berries 

 resembles the grape-cluster more closely ; for the 

 stalks which bear the berries start from a single 

 point. The fruit is red, having generally two stones, 

 the larger ones three and the smaller one ; the 

 stone is very hard and in eolour black outside. A 

 peculiarity of the clusters is that they make a row 3 

 along the sides of the stalk, and the longest cluster 

 is at the end of the stalk, as in the buckthorn and 

 the bramble. It is clear that the fruit is produced 

 both at the end and at the sides. 



4 The tree called the spindle-tree 5 grows, among 

 other places, in Lesbos, on the mountain called 

 Ordynnos. 6 It is as large as the pomegranate and 

 has a leaf like that of that tree, but larger than that 

 of the periwinkle, 7 and soft, like the pomegranate 

 leaf. It begins to shoot about the month Poseideon, 8 

 and flowers in the spring ; the flower in colour is 

 like the gilliflower, but it has a horrible smell, like 

 shed blood. 9 The fruit, with its case, is like the 

 pod of sesame 10 ; inside it is hard, but it splits easily 

 according to its four divisions. This tree, if eaten 



3 irapadpiyKi^ovffiv conj. Sch. ; irapo.6pvyKt^ovffav U (cor- 

 rected) ; irapadpvyy leaver i M. 



4 This section down to the word av6xu> is clearly out of 

 place : vd>i>v/j.os was not one of the plants proposed for dis- 

 cussion 3. 18. 1. It should come somewhere among the 

 descriptions of trees characteristic of special localities. 



5 Plin. 13. 118. 6 c/. Plin. 5. 140. 



7 This irrelevant comparison probably indicates confusion 

 in the text, as is shewn also by Pletho's excerpt of part of 

 this section : see Sch. 



B January. 9 <p6w. cj. 6. 4. 6. 10 cj. 8. 5. 2. 



281 



