ii.] OF THE ANCIENTS. 49 



it to be mentioned by Theophrastus u under the 

 name of ^rjfjivSa. For this, however, there ap- 

 pears to be no satisfactory evidence, as the ac- 

 count given by the Greek writer seems not suf- 

 ficiently descriptive. 



Oytisus laburnum is mentioned by Theophrastus x 

 under the name of KoXovrea. 



Pliny 7 speaks of a tree by the name Laburnum, 

 but does not describe it in a manner to identify 

 it with the tree now known by that name. Its 

 flowers, he says, which no bee will ever touch, are 

 a cubit in length. The latter may be intended to 

 designate the length of the pendulous racemes of 

 this tree, which is common, as he states, in the 

 lower parts of the Alps. 



Amongst several trees belonging to the genus 

 Cratsegus, we may mention 1st, Cratcegus Aria, or 

 Mountain Ash, existing both in Italy and Greece, 

 and probably described by Theophrastus under the 

 name of apLa z . 2nd, Torminalis, not a plant of 

 Greece, but found in the south of Italy, and sup- 

 posed to be noticed by Pliny a under that name, 

 although no description is given by which we can 

 identify it as such. 



The same uncertainty exists as to the other 

 species of the same family, Cratcegus oxyacantha, 

 our Hawthorn, which is supposed to be the Spina 

 alba of Columella, and by Dumolin, the ' 



tt H, PI. iii. 14. * Ibid., 17. r xvi. 31. 



z H. PI. iii. 4. a Lib. xv. c. 23. 



