Malus 



are that the tree is fragrant, that it is a remedy 

 against poison, and that it sweetens the breath. 

 The taste of the fruit probably came from his own 

 observation, though it was not regarded as esculent. 

 The points which he adds are that the leaves are not 

 shaken off by the wind and that the petals are slow 

 to drop. The point in which he followed the false 

 reading in Theophrastus is the comparison of the 

 leaves to those of the bay. The right reading is not 

 hdcfivris, the bay, as Virgil and Athenaeus found it 

 in their copies, but avSpdxXrjs. This is Arbutus 

 Andrachne, a Greek tree with oblong and blunted 

 leaves like the citron's, whereas the leaves of the 

 bay are acute. Thus Virgil's mistake enables us to 

 restore to his copy of Theophrastus a reading not 

 found in the extant manuscripts and not correct. 



From Theophrastus and Macrobius we may add 

 that the fruit was placed among clothes to protect 

 them from moths, and Macrobius ventures to 

 surmise that Homer's OvcoBea 'Feifiara owed their 

 scent to the citron. 



In Imperial times the citron was grown in Italy, 

 but in winter it was necessary to protect the trees 

 with mats stretched over pillars as lemon-trees are 

 now protected at Said on the Lake of Garda. 



Flower of Apple and Quince, May. 

 Italian names : Melo (apple) ; Cotogno 

 (Quince) ; Cedro (Citron). 



77 



