The cypress[2568] is an exotic, and has been reckoned one of the trees that are naturalized with the greatest difficulty; so much so, indeed, that Cato[2569] has expatiated upon it at greater length and more frequently than any of the others. This tree is naturally of a stubborn[2570] disposition, bears a fruit that is utterly useless, a berry that causes a wry[2571] face when tasted, and a leaf that is bitter: it also gives out a disagreeable pungent smell,[2572] and its shade is far from agreeable. The wood that it furnishes is but scanty, so much so indeed, that it may be almost regarded as little more than a shrub. This tree is sacred to Pluto, and hence it is used as a sign of mourning[2573] placed at the entrance of a house: the female[2574] tree is for a long time barren. The pyramidal appearance that it presents has caused it not to be rejected, but for a long time it was only used for marking the intervals between rows of pines: at the present day, however, it is clipped and trained to form hedge-rows, or else is thinned and lengthened out in the various designs[2575] employed in ornamental gardening, and which represent scenes of hunting, fleets, and various other objects: these it covers with a thin small leaf, which is always green.
There are two varieties of the cypress; the one[2576] tapering and pyramidal, and which is known as the female; while the male tree[2577] throws its branches straight out from the body, and is often pruned and employed as a rest for the vine. Both the male and the female are permitted to throw out their branches, which are cut and employed for poles and props, being worth, after thirteen years’ growth, a denarius a-piece. In respect of income, a plantation of cypress is remarkably profitable, so much so, indeed, that it was a saying in old times that a cypress-wood is a dowry for a daughter.[2578] The native country of this tree is the island of Crete, although Cato[2579] calls it Tarentine, Tarentum being the first place, I suppose, in which it was naturalized: in the island of Ænaria,[2580] also, if the cypress is cut down, it will grow again[2581] from the root. But, in the Isle of Crete, in whatever place the earth is moved, this tree will shoot up[2582] of its own natural vigour, and immediately appear above the soil; indeed, in that island there is no occasion even to solicit the soil, for it grows spontaneously there, on the mountains of Ida more particularly, and those known as the White Mountains. On the very summit of these elevations, from which the snows never depart, we find the cypress growing in great abundance; a thing that is truly marvellous—seeing that, in other countries, it will only grow in warm localities; from which it would appear to have a great dislike to its native climate.
CHAP. 61.—THAT THE EARTH OFTEN BEARS PRODUCTIONS WHICH IT HAS NEVER BORNE BEFORE.
It is not only the quality of the soil and the unchanging influences of the climate that affect the nature of trees, but wet and showery weather also, temporarily at least. Indeed, the torrents very often bring down with them seeds, and sometimes we find those of unknown kinds even floating along. This took place in the territory of Cyrenaica, at the period when laser was first grown there, as we shall have occasion to mention when we speak of the nature of the various herbs.[2583] A forest, too, sprang[2584] up in the vicinity of the city of Cyrene, just after a shower of rain, of a dense, pitchy nature, about the year of the City of Rome 430.
CHAP. 62. (34.)—THE IVY.—TWENTY VARIETIES OF IT.
It is said that the ivy now grows in Asia,[2585] though Theophrastus[2586] has denied that such is the fact, and asserts that it grows nowhere in India, except upon Mount Meros.[2587] He says, too, that Harpalus used every possible exertion to naturalize it in Media, but to no purpose; and that Alexander, in consequence of the rarity of this plant, had himself crowned[2588] with it, after the example of Father Liber, when returning victorious with his army from India: and at the present day even, it is used to decorate the thyrsus of that god, and the casques and bucklers employed by the nations of Thrace in their sacred ceremonials. The ivy is injurious[2589] to all trees and plants, and makes its way through tombs and walls; it forms a haunt much frequented by serpents, for its refreshing coolness; so that it is a matter for astonishment that there should have been such remarkable veneration for this plant.
The two principal kinds in the ivy, as in other plants, are the male tree and the female.[2590] The male is said to have a larger trunk than the female, and a leaf that is harder and more unctuous, with a flower nearly approaching to purple: indeed, the flower of both the male and female tree strongly resembles the wild[2591]-rose, were it not destitute of smell. Each of these kinds of ivy is divided into three other varieties; the white[2592] ivy, the black,[2593] and a third known as the helix.[2594] These varieties are again subdivided into others, as there is one in which the fruit only is white, and another in which it is only the leaf that is so. In those which have a white fruit, the berry in some cases is closely packed and large, the clusters, which are known as “corymbi,” being of a spherical form. So, too, with the selenitium, which has a smaller berry, and fewer clusters; and the same is the case with the black ivy. One kind has a black seed, and another a seed of a saffron[2595] colour—it is this last that poets use for their chaplets,[2596] and the leaves of it are not so black as in the other kinds: by some it is known as the ivy of Nysa, by others as that of Bacchus:[2597] it is the one that among the black varieties has the largest clusters of all. Some of the Greek writers even distinguish in this last kind two varieties, according to the colour of the berries, the erythranum[2598] and the chrysocarpus.[2599]
It is the helix, however, that has the most peculiarities of all, and in the appearance of the leaf more particularly, which is small, angular, and of a more elegant shape, the leaf in all the other kinds being plain and simple. It differs, too, in the distance between the joints, and in being barren more especially, as it never bears fruit. Some authors, however, think that this difference exists solely in respect of age and not of kind, and are of opinion that what is the helix when young, becomes the ordinary ivy when old. This, however, is clearly proved to be an error upon their part, for we find more varieties of the helix than one, and three in particular—that of a grass-green colour, which is the most abundant of all, the kind with a white leaf, and a third, which is parti-coloured, and known as the Thracian helix. In that of a grass-green colour, the leaves are smaller, more closely packed together, and symmetrically arranged; while in the other kinds the features are altogether different. In the parti-coloured kind, also, one variety has a smaller leaf than usual, similarly arranged, and lying closer together, while in the other none of these features are observed. The leaves, too, are either greater or smaller and differ in the disposition of the spots upon them, and in the white helix some of them are whiter than others: the grass-green variety, however, is the one that grows to the greatest height.
The white helix is in the habit of killing trees by depriving them of their juices, and increases to such a degree of density as to be quite a tree itself. Its characteristics are, a very large, broad, leaf, and projecting buds, which in all the other kinds are bent inwards; its clusters, too, stand out erect. Although, too, all the ivies have arms that throw out a root, those of this variety are particularly branchy and strong; next to it in strength, are those of the black ivy.