• ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, III. xviii. 5-6 



1 Of the sumacli they recognise a ' male ' and a 

 ' female ' fomi, the former being barren, the latter 

 fruit-bearing. The branches are not lofty nor stout, 

 the leaf is like that of the elm, but small more 

 oblong and hairy. On the young shoots the leaves 

 grow in pairs at equal distances apart, corresponding 

 to each other on the two sides, so that they are in 

 regular rows.^ Tanners use this tree for dyeing 

 white leather. The flower is white and grows in 

 clusters ; the general form of it, with branchlets, is 

 like that of the grape-bunch ; when the flowering is 

 over, the fruit reddens like the grape, and the 

 appearance of it is like small lentils set close 

 together; the form of these too is clustering. ^ The 

 fruit contains the drug called by the same name,* 

 which is a bony substance ; it is often still found 

 even when the fruit has been put through a sieve. 

 The root is shallow and single, so that these trees 

 are easily bent right over,^ root and all. The wood 

 has heart-wood, and it readily perishes and gets 

 worm-eaten.6 The tree occurs in all regions, but 

 flourishes most in clayey soils. 



" The ivy also has many forais ; one kind grows 

 on the ground, another grows tall, and of the tall- 

 growing ivies there are several kinds. However the 

 three most important seem to be the white the 

 black and the hdix. And of each of these there are 

 several forms. Of the ' white ' one is white only in 

 its fruit, another in its leaves also. Again to take 

 only white-fruited sorts, one of these has its fruit 

 well formed close and compact like a ball ; and this 



^ i.e. nearly uprooted by wind. 

 « KoicrSfievov : c/. 8. 11. 2, 3 and 5. 

 " Plin. 16. 144-147. 



273 



