Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of Virgil 

 Tus. 



' India mittit ebur, moUes sua tura Sabaei ' (Ge. i. 57). 

 ' solis est turea virga Sabaeis ' (Ge. ii. 117). 

 ' turiferis Panchai'a pinguis harenis ' {ib. 139). 

 Cf. Ae. i. 417 ; iv. 453 ; xi. 481. 



Although Virgil is mistaken in supposing that 

 Arabia or the land of Sheba alone produced frankin- 

 cense, it is probable that no other country exported 

 it to Rome. Theophrastus tells us that it came 

 from Arabia, and gives travellers' accounts of the 

 tree and the methods of collecting the gum. The 

 Arabians seem to have lost the art of cultivating the 

 tree, for nowadays their product is inferior to that 

 which comes from the islands of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago. 



The tree which produces it is either Boswellia 

 serrata or B, Carteri, perhaps varieties of the same 

 species, which have a balsamic and resinous juice. 

 Its use in religious ceremonies arises from the belief 

 that the smoke carries the scent upward to the noses 

 of the gods. 



Ulmus. 



' ulmis adiungere vites ' [Ge- i. 2). 

 ' ulmus opaca ingens' {Ae. vi. 283). 

 — ' nee gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab ulmo ' (Ec. i. 59). 

 'genus baud unum . . . fortibus ulmis' (Ge. ii. 83). 



■ Recent investigation has considerably modified 

 our views of the species of elms. The common 

 English elm used to be accounted a Roman im- 

 portation, but it is now ascertained that the English 



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