36 An Account of Plants, $c. 



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, 

 This fine tree is not decribed by the ancients, though it is 

 now found every where along the Bosphorus, where the large 

 pinnated foliage gives it a very striking appearance. 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. 



Elceagnus Angustifolia* 



This is the Wild Olive described by Theophrastus,* 

 DioscoRiDES,f and Pliny.J It grows every where about 

 Constantinople, in low situations and humid soils, and has 

 much more the habit and appearance of a Willow than of an 

 Olive; the under surface of the leaf is hoary, however, 

 like the latter, and sometimes so bright as to resemble a 

 plating of silver. The fruit is constantly sold in the markets 

 under the name of Ighide agdghi, and is usually brought 

 from the low grounds about Scutari, and other similar places 

 on the Asiatic shore. It abounds with a dry, mealy, saccha- 



* Lib. iv. cap. 8. 



f Lib. i. cap. 137- 



t Hist. Nat. Lib. xxiii. c 4. 



