ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, IV. iv. 5-8 



There are also many more ^ which are different to 

 those found among the Hellenes, but they have no 

 names. There is nothing surprising in the fact that 

 these trees have so special a character ; indeed, as 

 some say, there is hardly a single tree or shrub or 

 herbaceous plant, except quite a few, like those in 

 Hellas. 



The ebony 2 is also peculiar to this country; of 

 this there are two kinds, one with good handsome 

 wood, the other inferior. The better sort is rare, but 

 the inferior one is common. It does not acquire its 

 good colour by being kept, but it is natural to it from 

 the first. The tree is bushy, like laburnum. 



Some say that a ' terebinth ' ^ grows there also, 

 others that it is a tree like the terebinth ; this in 

 leaf twigs and all other respects resembles that 

 tree, but the fruit is different, being like almonds. 

 In fact they say that this sort of terebinth grows also 

 in Bactna and bears nuts only as big as almonds, 

 inasmuch as they are not large for the size of the 

 tree * ; and they closely resemble almonds in appear- 

 ance, except that the shell is not rough ; and in 

 palatableness and sweetness they are superior to 

 almonds ; wherefore the people of the country use 

 them in preference to almonds. 



*The trees from which they make their clothes 

 have a leaf like the mulberry, but the whole tree 

 resembles the wild rose. They plant them in the 

 plains in rows, wherefore, when seen from a distance, 

 they look like vines. Some parts also have many 



* Sta . . . n4ya\a : Seh. omits these words, and W. con- 

 siders them corrupt ; but G seems to have had them in his 

 tc;xt. The translation is tentative. 



* Cotton-plant, cf. 4. 7. 7 and 8. Plin. 12. 25. 



