Chap, xx. 



^ of trees that never pkd their "leu'Vei : '^lfo of RhododmdrofJ, 



AMong theft trees and plants which are of the gentkkmd5the OIivc5the Lawrell jthe Date 

 trecj MyrtlejCyprcflejPineSj Ivie,and the Oleander^Ioofe not theit leaves. A§ for the. O- 

 leanderjahhoiigh it bee called die Sabine hearbj yet it commcthfrom the Grceksjas 

 may appeare by the nameRhododendrotf. Soinc havee'alled it Nerion, others Rliododaphne : 

 it continueth alwaies gteen lcafcd_,bearcth flowers like roifesj and braunchcth very thicke . Hurt- 

 full it is and no better than poifbnjtoHorfesj AlIeSjMuleSjGoatSjand Sheep, and yet unto mari 

 it fervech for a countrcpoilbn^and curcth the venimoof fcrpents* 



Chap. xXi. 



What trees fljed not their leaves at dlU which the,y be thaS Uofe ihrn •hut in 

 part: andin what countries all trees are^ evergreene, 



OF the wild fort5the Firrc,the Larch, the wild Pine, theluniper, the Cedar jtheTerebinthj 

 the Box rree,the maft-HQlme,the Holiy,the Corketree, the Yew, and the Taraariskc, be 

 grecne all the ycare long. Of a middle nature betweenc thefc two kinds abovenai-ned,are 

 the Adrachne in Greece, and the Arbut or Strawberrie tree in all countries : for thefe loofe the 

 leaves of their water-boughs,buc are ever green in the head. Among the t'hrubskind aifojthere 

 is acertaine bramble and Cane or Reed, which is never without leavcsJn theterriEorieof Thu- 

 rium in Calabria, where fometime flood the city Sybaris,within the prorpe(5l fi om the faid eit- 

 tie, there was one Oke above the reft to be feene,alwaies green and full of leaves, and never be- 

 gan to bud new before raidfummer: where bythe way, Imacv^ilcnota litilCjthat the Greeke 

 writers delivered thus much of that tree in writing, and our countrymen afterwards have not 

 written a word thereof.Buttrue it is, that great power there is in the chmat:infomuch as about 

 Memphis in /Egypt,and Elephantine in the territorieXhebai's, there is not a tree (not To much 

 as the verie vine) that llieddeth leaves. 



Chap. xxii. 



"^jhe nature of fuch leaves as fall from trees '.and what leaves ihej ' 

 be that chaur/ge colour, 



A LI trees without the raunge of thofe before rehearfed (For to reckon them up by name par- 

 ticularly were a long and cedioys peece of worke) doe loofe their leaves in winter . And 

 verily this hath b? en found and obferved by expenencc,that no leaves do fade & wither, 

 but fiich as be thin,broad,& loft. As for fuch as fall not from the tree,they be commonly thicke' 

 skinnedjhard, and narrow; and therefore this is a falfe principle and pofition winch fome hold, 

 That no trees doe flied their leaves which have in them a fame Tap or oleous humiditie : for who 

 could ever perceive any fuch thing in the maif -Holme? a drier tree there is not, andyetithol- 

 deth alwaies green. 71'^;?^/^/^ (the great A ffcologer and Mathematician) is of opinionjthat when 

 thefunne is in the figne Scorpio, hccaufeth leaves to fall^ by a certain venomous and poifoned 

 infe6lion of the aire, proceedingfrom the influence of that maligne conftellation. Butif that 

 were true, we may well and juftly marveile, why the fame caufe fhould not be eifedluall like^vifc 

 in all other trees. Moreover, we fee that moft trees doe let fall their leaves in Autumne : U fome 

 are longer ere they flied, and continue greeneuntill winter bee come.Neither is the timely 

 llowfallof theleafelongof the early or late buddingjfor wee fee fome that burgcnandfhooE 

 out their fpring with the firft,and yet with the lafl llied their leaves and become naked : as name- 

 ly the Almond trees, Afhes, and Elders. And contra riwiie, the Mulberrie tree putteth fborth 

 leaves with the lateff, and is one of them that fooneft fbeddeth them againc. But the caufe here- 

 of lyeth much in the nature of the foile: for the trees that grow upon a IcarlCjdrie, and hungrie 

 ground, doe iboner calf leafe than others : alfo old trees become bare before younger : and ma- 

 ny of them alfo loofe their leaves ere that their fruit be fully ripe: for in the Fig-tree,that com- 

 mechand beareth late, in the winter Pyrrie,and Pomegranate, a man (hall fee in the latter end 



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