ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, I. vjii. 1-3 



same kind. And in general mountain trees have 

 more knots than those of the plain, and those that 

 grow in dry spots than those that grow in marshes. 



Again the way in which they are planted makes a 

 difference in this respect ; those trees that grow close 

 tx)gether are knotless and erect, those that grow far 

 apart have more knots and a more crooked growth ; 

 for it happens that the one class are in shade, the 

 others in full sun. Again the ' male ' trees have 

 more knots than the ' female ' in those trees in which 

 both forms are found, as cy]>ress silver-fir hop-horn- 

 beam cornelian cherry — for there is a kind called 

 ' female cornelian cheiTv ' (cornel) — and wild trees 

 liave more knots than trees in cultivation : this is 

 true both in general and when we compare those of 

 the same kind, as the wild and cultivated forms of 

 olive fig and pear. All these have more knots in the 

 wild state ; and in general those of closer gro\^-th 

 have this character more than those of open gro-wth ; 

 for in fact tlie 'male' plants are of closer growth, 

 and so are the wild ones ; except that in some cases, 

 as in box and nettle-tree, owing to the closer growth 

 there are no knots at all, or only a few. 



^ Again the knots of some trees are irregular and 

 set at haphazard, while those of others are regular, 

 alike in their distance apart and in their number, as 

 lias been said - ; wherefore also they are called ' trees 

 -^th regular knots.' ^ ■* For of some the knots are, 

 i\s it were, at even distances, while in others the 

 distance between them is greater at the thick end of 

 the stem. And this proportion holds throughout. 

 This is especially e\ident in the wild olive and in 

 i-eeds — in which the joint corresponds to the knot in 

 trees. Again some knots are opposite one another, 



57 



