Lib, j. 
Of the Hiftory ot Plants. 
1509 
Chap, 131. Of the Sjeomore tree. 
«J The Defer :pt ion. 
'"pHe SycomOre tree is of no final! 
height.being very like to the mulbe- 
rie tree in bigneffe & fhew, as alio in leafe: 
the fruit is as great asa Fig, and of the 
fame fafhion , very like in iuice and 
tafte to thewilde Fig, but fiveeter, and 
without any grains or feeds within, which 
groweth not forth of the tender boughes, 
but out of the body and great old armes 
very fruitfully : this tree hath in it plenty 
ofmilkie iuice, which fofoon as any part 
is broken or cut, dothifliieforrh. 
•[ The Place. 
It groweth, as Diofcorides writeth, very 
plentifully in Caria and Rhodes, and in 
fundry places o 1 Egypt, dsatthegreac 
Cayreor Alkaire, and in places that doe 
not bring forth much wheat, in which it is 
an he!pe,and futficeth in (lead ofbread 8c 
cornewhen there is feat fide of vi&uals. 
Galen writeth, that he (aw a plant of the 
Sycomore tree like to the wilde Fig tree 
fruit and all. 
fl The Time. 
It bringeth forth fruit three or foure 
times in one yeare,and oftner ifit be (cra- 
ped with an iron knife, or other like in- 
ftrument. 
The Names. 
This tree is called in Greeke, of the Fig tree and the Mulbery tree : in Latine, Sycomorus : 
Cornelius Cel fits nameth it backward ATorofycos the Egyptians of out time do call it Ficus Pharao- 
nic, or Pharao his Fig tree,as witneffeth BeUonius : and it is likewife termed Ficus .Mgyptia, Egyptian 
Fig tree, and alfo Monts vEgyptia, or Egyptian Mnlberrie tree. We cal it Englifb,Sycomore tree at 
ter the Greek and Latine, and alfo Mulberry Fig tree,which is the right Sycomore tree and not the 
great Maple,as we haue faid in the chapter of the Maple. 
The fruit is named in Greeks Sycomoron, an& in Italian, Sy Comoro and Fico d'Egitto. 
*[ The Temperature and Vertues. 
The fruit of the Sycomore tree hathno fharpne(feinitatall,as Galenhkh.lt is fomwhat fweet A 
in tafte,and is of temperature moift after a fort, and cold as be Mulberries. 
It is good, faith Diofcorides, for the bellyjbut it is , that is, without any nourifhment, and B 
troublefome to the ftomacke. 
There iffueth forth of the barke of this tree in the beginning of the Spring, before the fruit ap- C 
peareth,aliquour, which being taken vp with a fpunge,ora little wool], is dried, made vp into fine 
cakes, and kept in galliepots : this mollifieth,clofeth wounds together, and di(folueth groffe hu- 
mours. 
It is both inwardly taken and outwardly applied againft the bitingsof ferpents,hardne(Ie of the D 
mi! t or (pleene,and paine ofthe ftomacke proceeding of a cold caufe : this liquor doth very quick- 
ly putrifie. 
Sycomorus . 
The Sycomore tree. 1 
mm 3 
C H Pi Pa 
