294 Transactions of the Horticultural Society. 



Ceratonia siliqua, described by Dioscorides and Pliny; 

 almost the only tree that grows at Malta; also in the islands 

 of the Archipelago, and in great abundance in the wilderness 

 of Palestine, where its produce is at this day used for food. 

 The substance of the pod is thick and pulpy, and remarkably 

 sweet and nutritious, resembling manna in taste and consist- 

 ence. It is sent from Palestine to Alexandria in ship loads, 

 and from thence over the Mediterranien, and as far as Con- 

 stantinople, where it is sold in all the shops. It is occasion- 

 ally to be bought in London under its Spanish name of 

 Algaroba bran. 



Celtis australis ; common ; conjectured by Sibthorp to be 

 the lotos of Dioscorides, which Homer says has so sweet a 

 taste, that those who eat it forget their own country. " It 

 bears a berry of a light yellow, which changes to dark brown, 

 it has a sweet pleasant taste, and the modern Greeks are very 

 fond of it." 



Cupressus horizontalis, " was supposed by Pliny to be the 

 male of C. sempervirens, and modern botanists consider it only 

 a variety, but undoubtedly it is a different species. The 

 character of the whole tree is distinct and permanent, the 

 branches project as horizontally as those of the oak, and the 

 tree more resembles a pine than a cypress. It is in great 

 abundance, mixed with the C. sempervirens in all the Turkish 

 cemeteries. Wherever a Turk of respectability buries one of 

 his family, he plants a young cypress at the head of the grave, 

 as well because its aromatic resin qualifies the putrid effluvia 

 of the place, as because its evergreen foliage is an emblem of 

 immortality. It is never planted in the cemeteries of the 

 modern Greeks, though it was from them, perhaps, the Turks 

 adopted the practice." 



Diospyros lotus, is not described by the ancients, but is 

 found every where along the Bosphorus. " It was originally 

 brought from the country between the. Euxine and Caspian 

 seas ; and is therefore called the date of Trebisonde. It bears 

 abundantly a light brown fruit, nearly as large as a walnut, 

 which is sometimes sold in the markets under the name of 

 Tarabresan Curmasi. The recent fruit is austere, but would 

 make a good conserve." 



Elaeagnus angustifolia, the wild olive of Theophrastus, 

 Dioscorides, and Pliny, is common about Constantinople, in 

 low moist situations. " The fruit is sold in the markets under 

 the name of Ighide" agaghi, and is usually brought from the 

 low grounds about Scutari, and other similar places on the 

 Asiatic shore. It abounds with a dry, mealy, saccharine sub- 

 stance, which is sweet and pleasant, and has the property of 

 retaining a long time its usual size and form." 



