Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of Virgil 



soever encounters it, and other authorities describe 

 it as poisonous to neighbouring trees. This seems 

 to be a mistake, but of course its thick shade would 

 be bad for an apple or pear growing to the north of it. 

 Those who think that Virgil's tree is the almond 

 have to face insuperable difficulties. No passage is 

 quoted in which the name without an epithet ex- 

 pressed or implied means anything but the walnut. 

 The almond is ' Nux Graeca ' or ' Nux Amygdalina.' 

 Tibullus, speaking of the dyeing of grey hair with 

 walnut juice, says, ' viridi cortice tincta nucis,' and 

 Pliny expressly states that the ' nuces ' which the 

 bridegroom threw to the boys for a scramble were 

 walnuts, while the ' nuces ' used as children's play- 

 things were admittedly walnut shells. It has been 

 objected that Virgil would not describe the walnut 

 as bending its scented boughs, but he does not, for 

 ' ramos ' clearly refers to the catkins. In no case 

 would his words suit the almond, for the almond 

 blossom does not curve the boughs. It is true that 

 the flowers of the walnut are not conspicuous, but 

 they are numerous, and Virgil tells his farmer to 

 examine them for a special purpose. 



Flower, April. 

 Italian name, Noce. 



Oleaster, or Olea Silvestris. 



' foliis oleaster amaris ' (Ge. ii. 314 ; Ae. xii. 766). 



The wild olive (Olea Europaea) is either a native 

 or at least a well-established denizen in southern 



86 



