The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)

by the Elder Pliny

CHAP. 10. (5.)—THE TREES OF SYRIA: THE PISTACIA, THE COTTANA, THE DAMASCENA, AND THE MYXA.

In addition to the palm, Syria has several trees that are peculiar to itself. Among the nut-trees there is the pistacia,[822] well known among us. It is said that, taken either in food or drink, the kernel of this nut is a specific against the bite of serpents. Among figs, too, there are those known as “caricæ,”[823] together with some smaller ones of a similar kind, the name of which is “cottana.” There is a plum, too, which grows upon Mount Damascus,[824] as also that known as the “myxa;”[825] these last two are, however, now naturalized in Italy. In Egypt, too, they make a kind of wine from the myxa.