Suber 



and is of much less stature than the oak. The cup 

 of the acorn is covered with velvety scales. 



Flower, April and May. 

 Italian name, Sughera. 



Taeda. 



' taedas silva alta ministrat' (Ge. ii. 431). 



Originally the name of a tree, our word more 

 often signifies a torch, and probably has that mean- 

 ing in this passage. Virgil, however, must have 

 known the material of the tree even if he never saw 

 it alive. It is the Swiss stone-pine (Pinus cembra), 

 a native of lofty mountains, and found on the Alps 

 within sight of the plain of Lombardy. The strong 

 aroma, at its highest point in the spring, points to 

 the very rosinous character which made it of service 

 for torches. The tree has a close, erect, and some- 

 what oval habit of growth. When Horace com- 

 pared Hannibal's descent upon Italy to a fire 

 sweeping ' per taedas,' he doubtless was speaking 

 of conifers generally, and had no special kind in 

 view. 



Flower, July. 



Italian name, Pino Zimbro. 



Taxus. 



' (amant) aquilonem et frigora taxi ' (Ge. ii. 113). 



' taxi torquentur in arcus ' {ib. 448). ^ 



' sic tibi Cyrnaeas fugiant examina taxos ' (£c. ix. 30). ^ 



In Italy the yew (Taxus baccata) is exclusively 

 a tree of the higher ground, and except in Liguria 



123 



