Tr l bs 16, The 'Theater of "Plants* Chap ,96. 1539 
or well excercifed tberein, for it is to be difccrned but by iome cdpeciall notes. It rifeth up as high and groweth 
as great as the Firrc, fteeple fafhion, with a thicke rfddilh afhcoloured batkc, rough and tough like leather, and 
ipreadeththe branches a erode as that doth, butbeodingdo\vne, not (landing upright as the Firrc doth: Ths 
leaves alfo are thickefet on all (ides of the branches, and not onely on two asihcHrre : being thicke and (horr, 
round.and not flat as the Firte leaves are, foftcr alfo and not hard, pointed at the ends like it: the cones come 
forth at the ends of the branches, after the catkins arc fallen, which are fomewhat rtddiflaat thefirft fpringing 
forth, and being full growne are flender, about (even or eight inches long,bending downewards, abiding fo long 
onthetrees. nntill the kales opening, the Iced within them which is (mall and blackifh, falkth out upon the 
ground, the wood is ftnootlier,fofter,le(Tc knotty,and with fairer and flraighter graines, and thereby more ac¬ 
cepted in workes then the Fine, fromthistrec is gathered lmall poeces of white hard diy RolTtn, difliiling out 
thereof of it owne accord,very like unto Olibanum, that many may be deceived with it, as alio a Fquid Rcffin 
ot Turpintine, by boring the tree as others are.a-sd Pitch alio,as from the Pine. 
a. Piceapnmila f I he dwarfe Pitch tree. 
This tree never rifeth high, butalwayesabideth low, ipreading the branches in manner of a crofi’eas the for¬ 
mer, befet with (hotter and palergreene leaves allaboutthem, thisbearethcertainc l'mall heads, of thebignefie 
of an Flafell nut, compofedoffcaleslaid clofe one uponanoihcr, whofeendisa prickly leate, whichopcning 
when kisripeflieweth it to be like hollo w voyd or empty places within, and from the heads that arc at the ends 
of the branches, (hoote fo.th oftentimes branches with fundry flrorc and prickely leaves: whether it boie cither 
flowers ot fruitc,Cto/i<» faith he knew not,for he law none on any that he found. 
The Place and 7 ime. 
The firft groweth ufually in all Countries with the F it re trees, but feldomeneerethc Sea: the other Clnfeus 
found in his fcarch for (imples in Germany, but nameth noplace: The Pitch tree blofl'omes fallaway in March 
and April/,when the cones begin to come forth, which are lipe before Winter, but abide on as is faid, ifthey 
be not gathered, untill it (lied all the feede, and that the windcs and the weather have rotted and blowne downs 
the ftalkts of the withered. 
The Names. 
It is called in Greeke vitcc , and inLatine Picea : becaule the pitch is made of this tree yet,as all Authoursdos 
agree, the Pine tree is mod ufually taken tor that purpole, and of it is made both the belt and the moll (tore. 
BelloniM as Cluj iti thinktth was much deceived in the Pitch tree, taking the vvilde Pine tree for ir, in his fccond 
Booke and third Chapter, where-C/t/JItM noteth ir, giveihic the figure of his Pitch tiec, which is the wilde Pine 
tree as he faith, but Bdloniw in his firtt Booke and 44, Chapter, doth there give the figure of the Sapimu, which 
he lanh fome French men call da Sapin, and lome de la Suijfe, which as LugJmicnfu faith, is the name by which 
they call the Pitch tree, fo that it feemeth probable that Clafsiu hath herein millaken Beltoniur, yet he faith in 
the faid lecond Booke and third Chaptei ,that the Inhabitants doe take Teda, Torches from this tree, and that they 
make pitch, and Crdrw.Tarre from it alfo, which is moft ufually made of ihc wilde pine tree, but if pitch were 
not made of this ttce.it had the name of pitch tree given it in vaine: Titjocampa, are taken to be called 
Ertsca painorttm, when as they onely grow on this tree. The Arabians call it An, but Tragus faith, they call 
the Pine treeby that name alfo, the Italians Ferouo, the Spaniards Pino negro, the French Peffi and Soijfe, the 
Germanes have no other diftinft name then Thannenbarsmto call it by, by which alfo they caliche Fir,-etiec,one¬ 
ly they call it Schwartz oder rot Thamenbanm, which Tragus callcth Abies rubra, and cliinkcih it to be Picea, 
the Thstch Pecklsoom , and we Pitch tree. 
The Verities. 
The properties hereof are wholly attributed to be the fame with the Pine t ee, as is before faid, bothforthe 
bavke and the leaves, but this not having any kernels, that arc fit cither to be eaten or uled in phylickc, we can lay 
nothing of them. 
Chap. XCVI. 
Abies, The Firrc tree. 
SgX&a Lthough Bcllimm and from him, doe follow Theopbrafhis and make two forts of Firres, a 
male and a female, yet unleffe the Pitch tree may be accounted his male, I know nor how it may be 
granted in our dayes: which if it be as Clstfiw and others feeine to yeeld unto, I marveile then what 
■res’W’xon tree his -oiaa (hail be. I have therefore but one lort of Firreto (hew you, although I know fome by 
the fmoothndle and colour of feverall forts of the wood,might argue them of differing forts, yet I hold that not 
fuffirient to make a feverall fpecies, 110 more then is feene in our Oake, which growing in fome places will be 
fmoother or rougher,tougher alfo or more brittle, of a paler or yellower colour, and with more or leffeveines 
therein then in others, which comineth topiffe by themoift or dry, ftiffe or fandy grounds wherein they grow. 
It groweth taller then any other, except the great Cedar, growing ftraightup to a great height, without either 
branch or knot, and covered with a rough hard brittle gray barke, the greater armes (land alwayes foure toge¬ 
ther, ope oppofite unto another in lortne of a crofl'c, and grow upright, the fide branches on the younger (land¬ 
ing but by couples: this order it holdcth in all up to the toppe which is fmallefl, having rifen like a Pyramis by 
degrees: the leaves that grow on theeldcr branches, Hand without Order, and are harder yet bluntly pointed, 
then thofe on the younger, which Hand but on two fides, making the branches feeme flat, and very thicke lee 
one unto another, like the teeth ot a combe , and thsfe of the younger growth arc flatter then of theeldcr, of- 
tentimes forked at the ends, of a pale t'rcfii greeneon the upper fide, and grayifh underneath, and fmallell to¬ 
wards the endsthe aggletspr catkins that this beareth. are fmall and of a whitilh yellow greene, enduring 
a whole yeare on the trees,after they have (hewed their flowers: the cones or Apples thereof, are greater then 
thofe of the Pitch tree, and with broader feales,blunt or in fome double pointed, on theinlkiedf every fcale a!* 
stall lycch a fmall (cede, joyned to a thinne skinne like a wing, and abide grsene untill Winter, and then grow 
ripe 
