ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, IX. i. 2-4 



this last also produces a gum, though it does not 

 exude from the bark, but is found in the ' bag ' l 

 of the leaves ; there are also the juices from which 

 come frankincense and myrrh ; for these too are 

 gums ; so too are balsam of Mecca khalbane 2 and any 

 others of the kind that there may be, such as, they 

 say, the Indian akantha, from which comes some- 

 thing 8 resembling myrrh ; and a similar substance 

 forms on mastich and the spinous plant called urine 

 (pine-thistle), whence mastic-gum is made. 



All these have a fragrant odour, as in general have 

 those which contain a viscous substance and are 

 fatty ; while those that are not fatty have no scent, 

 as gum and the juice which exudes from the almond. 

 The pine-thistle 4 of Crete has also a gum, and so 

 has the plant called tragacanth ; 5 this was formerly 

 supposed to grow only in Crete, but now it is well 

 known to grow also in Achaia in the Peloponnese 

 and elsewhere in Hellas and in Asia in the Median 

 country. In all these plants the gum occurs in 

 the stems the trunks and the branches, but in 

 some plants it is found in the roots, as in alexanders 

 scammony and many other medicinal plants. In 

 some it is found in the stem and also in the root ; 6 

 for of some 7 plants they tap the stem and the roots 

 as well, as is done with silphium. 



Now the juice of alexanders is like myrrh, and 

 some, having heard that myrrh comes from it, have 

 supposed that, if myrrh is sown, alexanders comes up 



2 (jalbanum. cf. Plin. 12. 121; 24. 21. Verg. G. 3. 415 ; 

 4. 264. See 9. 7. 2 ; 9. 9. 2 n. 



3 Til con j. ; rb MSS. * itfo = ttfvij. See Index. 

 5 Plin. 13. 115. 6 cf. C.P. 6. 11. 15. 



7 fvlwv KOI conj. Sch. ; xal Iviwv Aid. 



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