BOOK XVII. xx.wii. 336-239 



the hard oak and the common oak. If only a narrow 

 band of bark is removed, it causes no harm, as with 

 the trees above mentioned, aUhough with weaker § 234. 

 trees at all events and in a thin soil to reniove the 

 bark even from only one part kills the tree. A 

 siniilar efFect is also produced by lopping the top of a 

 spruce, pricklv ccdar or cypress, for to remove the top 

 or to scorch it with fire is fatal to these trees ; and 

 the ctrect of being gnawn by animals is also similar. 

 Indeed, according^ to Varro, as we have stated, an viir. 204, 



TV ^4 



oUve goes barren if merelv Ucked by a she-goat. ' ' 

 Certain trees die of this injury, but some only de- 

 teriorate, for instance almonds, the fruit of which is 

 changed from sw^eet to bitter, but others are actuaUy 

 improved, for instance the pear caUed the Phocian 

 pear in Chios. For we have mentioned trees that xiii. 36. 

 are actuaUy benefited by having the top lopped ofF. 

 Most trees die also when the trunk is spUt, excepting 

 the vine, apple, fig and pomegranates, and some 

 merely from a wound, though the pine and aU the 

 resinous trees despise this injury. For a tree to die 

 when its roots are cut oif is not at aU surprising; 

 most trees die even when deprived not of aU their 

 roots but of the largest ones or those among them 

 that are essential to Ufe. 



Trees kiU one another by their shade or the thick- Damcu^e by 

 ness of their foliage and by robbing each other (^^"anJbyZtheT 

 nutriment ; they are also kiUed by ivy binding them pianta. 

 round, and mistletoe does them no good, and cytisus 

 kiU'; them, and thev are kiUed by the plant caUed 

 halimon by the Greeks. The nature of some plants 

 though not actuaUy deadly is injurious owing to its 

 blend of scents or of juice — for instance the radish 

 and the laurel are harmful to the vine ; for the vine 



165 



