Theophrastus

“ The people of Ida say that the fir is liable to a kind of disease;—when not only the heart but the outer part of the trunk becomes glutted [26] with pitch, the tree then is as it were choked. This happens of its own accord through the excessive luxuriance of the tree, as one may conjecture for it all turns into pitch-glutted wood. This then is an affection peculiar to the fir.
[27] The silver-fir is either 'male' or 'female,' and has differences in its leaves [28] ; those of the 'male' are sharper more needle-like and more bent; wherefore the whole tree has a more compact appearance. ”

“ This distinction between 'male' and 'female' may, according to the woodmen, be said to be common to all trees. Any wood of a 'male' tree, when one comes to cut it with the axe, gives, shorter lengths, is more twisted, harder to work, and darker in colour; while the 'female' gives better lengths. For it is the 'female' fir which contains what is called the aigis [13] ; this is the heart of the tree; the reason being that it is less resinous, less soaked with pitch, smoother, and of straighter grain. ”

“ Some plants grow straight up and have tall stems, as silver-fir fir cypress; some are by comparison crooked and have short stems, as willow fig pomegranate; and there are like differences as to degree of thickness. Again some have a single stem, others many stems; and this difference corresponds [3] more or less to that between those which have sidegrowths and those which have none, or that between those which have many branches and those which have few, such as the date-palm. And in these very instances we have also differences in strength thickness and the like. ”

“ In fact your plant is a thing various and manifold, and so it is difficult to describe in general terms: in proof whereof we have the fact that we cannot here seize on any universal character which is common to all, as a mouth and a stomach are common to all animals; whereas in plants some characters are the same in all, merely in the sense that all have analogous [12] characters, while others correspond otherwise. For not all plants have root, stem, branch, twig, leaf, flower or fruit, or again bark, core, fibres or veins ”

“ Both kinds have branches like those of the chaste-tree, arranged in pairs opposite one another. The wood of the 'male' tree has no heart, but is hard throughout, like horn in closeness and strength; whereas that of the 'female' tree has heart-wood and is softer and goes into holes; wherefore it is useless for javelins. The height of the 'male' tree is at most twelve cubits, the length of the longest Macedonian spear, the stem up to the point where it divides not being very tall. The people of Mount Ida in the Troad say that the 'male' tree is barren, but that the 'female' bears fruit. ”

“ Those which belong to the qualities [1] and properties are such as hardness or softness, toughness or brittleness, closeness or openness of texture, lightness or heaviness, and the like. For willow-wood is light from the first, even when it is green, and so is that of the cork-oak; but box and ebony are not light even when dried. Some woods again can be split, [2] such as that of the silver-fir, while others are rather breakable, [3] such as the wood of the olive. Again some are without knots, [4] as the stems of elder, others have knots, as those of fir and silver-fir. ”

“ Smiths [10] require charcoal of fir rather than of oak: it is indeed not so strong, but it blows up better into a flame, as it is less apt to smoulder: and the flame from these woods is fiercer. In general the flame is fiercer not only from these but from any wood which is of open texture and light, or which is dry: while that from wood which is of close texture or green is more sluggish and dull. The fiercest flame of all is given by brushwood; but charcoal cannot be made from it at all, since it has not the necessary substance. ”

“ For, as with animals which do not submit to domestication, so a plant which does not submit to cultivation may be called wild in its essential character. However Hippon [3] declares that of every plant there exists both a cultivated and a wild form, and that 'cultivated' simply means [4] that the plant has received attention, while 'wild' means that it has not; but though he is partly right, he is partly wrong. It is true that any plant deteriorates by neglect and so becomes wild but it is not true that every plant may be improved by attention, [5] as has been said. ”

“ As for the fig, [25] no cultivated kind is raised from its seed, but either the ordinary wild fig or some wild kind is the result, and this often differs in colour from the parent; a black fig gives a white, and conversely. Again the seed of an excellent vine produces a degenerate result, which is often of quite a different kind and at times this is not a cultivated kind at all, but a wild one of such a character that it does not ripen its fruit; with others again the result is that the seedlings do not even mature fruit, but only get as far as flowering. ”

“ For if the timber has straight and not crooked lines of fissure, the bark also is smooth and regular, while if the timber has the opposite character, the bark is rough and twisted; and so too is it with other points. However few trees are 'four-cleft,' and most of those which are not are 'one-cleft.' All wood, as was said before, which grows in a position facing north, is bigger, more erect, of straighter grain, tougher, and in general fairer and more abundant. Moreover of an individual tree the wood on the northward side is closer and more vigorous. ”

“ Wood becomes knotty when it has been ill nourished and has suffered severely whether from winter or some such cause; for in general a knotty habit is supposed to indicate lack of nourishment. When however, after being ill nourished, the tree recovers and becomes vigorous, the result is that the knots are absorbed [2] by the growth which now covers them; for the tree, being now well fed and growing vigorously, recovers, and often the wood is smooth outside, though when split it is seen to have knots. And this is why they examine the core of wood that has been split ”

“ But there is greater diversity in the time of fruiting; as we said before, the times of ripening do not correspond to those of budding, but there are wide differences. For even in the case of those trees which are somewhat late in fruiting,—which some say take a year to ripen their fruit—such as Phoenician cedar and kermes-oak, the budding nevertheless takes place in the spring. ”

“ All those trees which are common to both hill and plain are taller and finer in appearance when they grow in the plain but the mountain forms are better as to producing serviceable timber and fruits, with the exception of wild pear pear and apple; these are in the plain better in fruit and also in timber; for in the hills they grow small with many knots and much spinous wood. But even on the mountains all trees grow fairer and are more vigorous when they have secured a suitable position ”

“ So the commonest ways of growth with all plants are from a piece torn off or from seed; for all plants that have seeds grow also from seed. And they say that the bay too grows [6] from a piece torn off, if one takes off the young shoots and plants them but it is necessary that the piece torn off should have part of the root or stock [7] attached to it. However the pomegranate and 'spring apple' [8] will grow even without this, and a slip of almond [9] grows if it is planted. The olive grows, one may say, in more ways than any other plant ”

“ Now both accounts may be true, for it is not strange that in different soils the methods of cultivation should differ, like the trees themselves.
[22] There are several kinds of palm. To begin with, to take first the most important difference;—some are fruitful and some not; and it is from this latter kind that the people of Babylon make their beds and other furniture. Again of the fruitful trees some are 'male,' others 'female'; and these differ from one another in that the 'male' first [23] bears a flower on the spathe, while the 'female' at once bears a small fruit. ”

“ For in the case of some plants it might seem that our definitions overlap; and some under cultivation appear to become different and depart from their essential nature, for instance, mallow [6] when it grows tall and becomes tree-like. For this comes to pass in no long time, not more than six or seven months, so that in length and thickness the plant becomes as great as a spear, and men accordingly use it as a walking-stick, and after a longer period the result of cultivation is proportionately greater. ”

“ Now the gall-insects come, as has been said, out fig, and they are engendered from the seeds. The proof given of this is that, when they come out, there are no seeds left in the fruit; and most of them in coming out leave a leg or a wing behind. There is another kind of gall-insect which is called kentrines; these insects are sluggish, like drones, they kill those of the other kind who are entering the figs, and they themselves die in the fruit. The black kind of wild fig which grows in rocky places is most commended for caprification, as these figs contain numerous seeds. ”

“ On the other hand the myrtle, unless it is pruned, turns into a shrub, and so does filbert [7] : indeed this last appears to bear better and more abundant fruit, if one leaves a good many of its branches untouched, since it is by nature like a shrub. Again neither the apple nor the pomegranate nor the pear would seem to be a tree of a single stem, nor indeed any of the trees which have side stems from the roots, but they acquire the character of a tree when the other stems are removed. ”

“ And in general, as we have said, we must not assume that in all respects there is complete correspondence between plants and animals. And that is why the number also of parts is indeterminate; for a plant has the power of growth in all its parts, inasmuch as it has life in all its parts. ”

“ Take then the various kinds of oak; for in this tree men recognise more differences than in any other. Some simply speak of a cultivated and a wild kind, not recognising any distinction made by the sweetness of the fruit; (for sweetest is that of the kind called Valonia oak, and this they make the wild kind) , but distinguishing the cultivated kind by its growing more commonly on tilled land and having smoother timber, while the Valonia oak has rough wood and grows in mountain districts. ”