CHAP. 29. (17.)—FOUR VARIETIES OF THE ELM.
Midway between the preceding ones and the fruit-trees stands the elm, partaking of the nature of the former in its wood, and being akin to the latter in the friendship which it manifests for the vine.[2395] The Greeks distinguish two varieties of this tree: the mountain[2396] elm, which is the larger of the two, and that of the plains, which is more shrubby. Italy gives the name of “Atinia”[2397] to the more lofty kinds, and gives the preference to those which are of a dry nature and will not grow in damp localities. Another variety is the Gallic elm,[2398] and a third, the Italian,[2399] with leaves lying closer together, and springing in greater numbers from a single stalk. A fourth kind is the wild elm. The Atinia does not produce any samara,[2400] that being the name given to the seed of the elm. All the elms will grow from slips or cuttings, and all of them, with the exception of the Atinia, may be propagated from seed.
CHAP. 30. (18.)—THE NATURES OF THE VARIOUS TREES ACCORDING TO THEIR LOCALITIES: THE MOUNTAIN TREES, AND THE TREES OF THE PLAIN.
Having now made mention of the more remarkable trees, it remains for me to state some general facts connected with them all. The cedar, the larch, the torch-tree, and the other resinous trees prefer mountainous localities:[2401] the same is the case also with the aquifolia, the box, the holm-oak, the juniper, the terebinth, the poplar, the wild mountain-ash, and the yoke-elm.[2402] On the Apennines there is also found a shrub known as the “cotinus,”[2403] famous for imparting to cloth a purple colour like that of the murex. The fir, the robur, the chesnut, the lime, the holm-oak, and the cornel will grow equally well on mountain or in valley; while the maple,[2404] the ash, the service, the linden, and the cherry, more particularly prefer a watery spot on the slope of a hilly declivity. It is not often that we see the plum, the pomegranate, the olive, the walnut, the mulberry, or the elder, growing on an elevated site: the cornel, too, the hazel, the quercus, the wild ash, the maple, the ash, the beech, and the yoke-elm, descend to the plains; while the elm, the apple, the pear, the laurel, the myrtle, the blood-red[2405] shrub, the holm-oak, and the brooms[2406] that are employed in dyeing cloths, all of them aspire to a more elevated locality.
The sorb,[2407] and even still more the birch,[2408] are fond of a cold site; this last is a native of Gaul, of singular whiteness and slender shape, and rendered terrible as forming the fasces of the magistracy. From its flexibility it is employed also in making circlets and the ribs of panniers. In Gaul,[2409] too, they extract a bitumen from it by boiling. To a cold site, also, belongs the thorn, which affords the most auspicious torches[2410] of all for the nuptial ceremony; from the circumstance, as Massurius assures us, that the shepherds, on the occasion of the rape of the Sabine women, made their torches of the wood of this tree: at the present day, however, the woods of the yoke-elm and the hazel are more generally employed for this purpose.
CHAP. 31.—TREES WHICH GROW ON A DRY SOIL: THOSE WHICH ARE FOUND IN WET LOCALITIES: THOSE WHICH ARE FOUND IN BOTH INDIFFERENTLY.
The cypress, the walnut, the chesnut, and the laburnum,[2411] are averse to water. This last tree is also a native of the Alps, and far from generally known: the wood is hard and white,[2412] and the flowers, which are a cubit[2413] in length, no bee will ever touch. The shrub, too, known as Jupiter’s beard,[2414] manifests an equal dislike to water: it is often clipped, and is employed in ornamental gardening, being of a round, bushy form, with a silvery leaf. The willow, the alder, the poplar,[2415] the siler,[2416] and the privet,[2417] so extensively employed for making tallies,[2418] will only grow in damp, watery places; which is the case also with the vaccinium,[2419] grown in Italy for drugging our slaves,[2420] and in Gaul for the purpose of dyeing the garments of slaves a purple colour. All those trees[2421] which are common to the mountains and the plains, grow to a larger size, and are of more comely appearance when grown on the plains, while those found on the mountains have a better wood and more finely veined, with the exception of the apple and the pear.
CHAP. 32. (19.)—DIVISION OF TREES INTO VARIOUS SPECIES.
In addition to these particulars, some of the trees lose their leaves, while others, again, are evergreens. Before, however, we treat of this distinction, it will be necessary first to touch upon another. There are some trees that are altogether of a wild nature, while there are others, again, that are more civilized, such being the names[2422] by which man has thought fit to distinguish the trees. Indeed, these last, which by their fruits or some other beneficial property, or else by the shade which they afford, show themselves the benefactors of man, are not inappropriately called “civilized”[2423] trees.