BOOK XIII. .\Lvii. 134 xLix. 138 



it is not afraid of damagc from heat and cold and 

 hail and snow, and, as Hyginus adds, not even from 

 wood-grubs, as its wood has no attraction for them. 



XLVIII. Shrubs and trees also grow at the bottom of Suhmarine 

 the sea — those in the Mediterranean being of smaller '^^^^'"'"^' 

 size, for the Red Sea and the whole of the Eastern 

 Ocean are filled with forests." The Latin language has 

 no name for what the Greeks call phycos,'' as our word 

 alga denotes a herbaceous sea-plant, whereas the 

 phycos is a shrub. It has a broad leaf and is coloured 

 green ; and it produces a growth one of the Greek 

 names for which means ' leek-weed ' and the other 

 * bind-weed.' Another variety of the same shrub 

 has a hair-like leaf resembling fennel, and grows on 

 rocks, while the one above grows in shallow water 

 near the coast ; both kinds shoot in spring-time and 

 die off in autumn. The phycos growing on rocks 

 round the island of Crete is also used for a purple 

 dye ; the most approved kind being that growing on 

 the northern side of the island, as is the case in 

 regard to sponges. A third variety resembles a 

 grass ; its root is knotted, and so is its stalk, like the 

 stalk of a reed. 



XLIX. Anothcr group of shrubs is called bryon,<^ 

 which has the leaf of a lettuce only more wrinkled. 

 This grows lower down than the one last mentioncd ; 

 but in deep watcr grow a fir and an oak, each 18 

 inches high ; they have shells clinging to their 

 branches. The oak is reported to provide a dye for 

 woollen fabrics, and some in deep water are actually 

 said to bear acorns, these facts having been ascer- 

 tained by shipwrecked persons and by divers. AIso 

 other very large marine trees are reported in the 

 neighbourhood of Sicyon — for the sea-vine grows 



179 



