BOOK XVI. XL. 95-xLi. 98 



oak, the pitch-pine, the larch and the pine do not 

 bedeck themselves with any blossom or announce 

 the yearly birthdays of their fruit by a many-coloured 

 harbinger, nor yet do the cultivated and the wild 

 fig, for they produce their fruit straight away in- 

 stead of a blossom, and in the case of the fig it is also 

 remarkable that there are abortive fruits that never 

 ripen. The juniper also does not blossom — though 

 some %\Titers record two kinds of juniper, one of which 

 flowers but does not bear, and one which does not 

 flower but does bear, its berries coming to birth 

 immediately, which remain on the tree for two 

 years; but this is a mistake, and all the junipers 

 present the same gloomy aspect always. Similarly, 

 the fortunes of many human beings also lack a 

 flowering season. 



XLI. AU trees however produce buds, even those varions 

 which do not blossom. There is also a great difference ^SjJ*4 

 between locaUties, inasmuch as of the same kind 

 of tree those growing in marshy places bud earUer, 

 those on the plains next and those in woods last of 

 all ; but taking them separately the wild pear buds 

 earher than the rest, the cornel buds when the west 

 wind begins to blow% next the laurel, and a Httle 

 before the equinox the lime and maple — while 

 among the earUest trees to flower are the poplar, 

 elm, willow, alder and the nuts ; the plane also buds 

 quickly. The other trees bud when spring is about 

 to begin, the holly, terebinth, Christ's thorn, chest- 

 nut and the acorn-bearing trees, while the apple is a 

 late budder, and the cork buds latest of all. Some Later 

 trees bud twice, owing to excessive fertiUty of soil " "^*" 

 or the allurement of agreeable weather, and this occurs 

 to a greater degree with the young blades of cereals, 



451 



