ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, IV. vii. 1-3 



in Arabia there grows on the land no tree except 

 that called the ' thirsty ' acacia, and even this is 

 scarce by reason of the heat and the lack of water ; 

 for it never rains except at intervals of four or five 

 ye^rs, and then the rain comes down heavily and is 

 soon over. 



^ But there are plants in the sea, which they call 

 'bay' and 'olive' (white mangrove-). In foliage 

 the 'bay' is like the aria (holm-oak), the 'olive' 

 like the real olive.' The latter has a fruit like olives, 

 and it also discharges a gum,* from which the 

 physicians * compound a drug ^ for stanching blood, 

 which is extremely effective. And when there is 

 more rain than usual, mushrooms grow in a certain 

 place close to the sea, which are turned to stone by 

 the sun. The sea is full of beasts, and produces 

 sharks ^ in great numbers, so that diving is 

 impossible. 



In the gulf called ' the Gulf of the Heroes,' '' 

 to which the Egyptians go down, there grow a ' bay,' 

 an ' olive,' and a ' thyme ' ; these however are not 

 green, but like stones so far as they project above 

 the sea, but in leaves and shoots they are like their 

 green namesakes. In the ' thyme ' the colour of the 

 flower is also conspicuous, looking as though the 

 flower had not yet completely developed. These 

 treelike growths are about three cubits in height. 



*Now some, referring to the occasion when there 

 was an expedition of those returning from India sent 

 out by Alexander, report that the plants which grow in 

 the sea, so long as they are kept damp, have a colour 



^ cf. Diosc. 1. 105 and 106. 



' cf. Athen. 4. 83 ; Plin. 12. 77. 



6 PUn. 13. 139. " ef. 9. 4. 4. » Plin. 13. 140. 



339 



