CHAP. 90.—TREES WHICH ARE THE MOST SHORT-LIVED.
On the other hand, the pomegranate,[2753] the fig, and the apple are remarkably short-lived; the precocious trees being still more so than the later ripeners, and those with sweet fruit than those with sour: among the pomegranates, too, that variety which bears the sweetest fruit lives the shortest time. The same is the case, too, with the vine,[2754] and more particularly the more fruitful varieties. Græcinus informs us that vines have lasted so long as sixty years. It appears, also, that the aquatic trees die the soonest. The laurel,[2755] the apple, and the pomegranate age rapidly, it is true, but then they throw out fresh shoots at the root. The olive must be looked upon, then, as being one of the most long-lived, for it is generally agreed among authors that it will last two hundred years.
CHAP. 91.—TREES THAT HAVE BEEN RENDERED FAMOUS BY REMARKABLE EVENTS.
In the territory about the suburbs of Tusculum, upon a hill known by the name of Corne, there is a grove which has been consecrated to Diana by the people of Latium from time immemorial; it is formed of beeches, the foliage of which has all the appearance of being trimmed by art. Passienus Crispus, the orator, who in our time was twice consul, and afterwards became still more famous as having Nero for his step-son, on marrying his mother Agrippina, was passionately attached to a fine tree that grew in this grove, and would often kiss and embrace it: not only would he lie down, too, beneath it, but he would also moisten its roots with wine.[2756] In the vicinity of this grove there is a holm-oak, likewise of very considerable celebrity, the trunk of which is no less[2757] than thirty-four feet in circumference; giving birth to ten other trees of remarkable size, it forms of itself a whole forest.
CHAP. 92.—PLANTS THAT HAVE NO PECULIAR SPOT FOR THEIR GROWTH: OTHERS THAT GROW UPON TREES, AND WILL NOT GROW IN THE GROUND. NINE VARIETIES OF THEM: CADYTAS, POLYPODION, PHAULIAS, HIPPOPHÆSTON.
It is a well-known fact that trees are killed by ivy.[2758] The mistletoe also has a similar influence, although it is generally thought that its injurious effects are not so soon perceptible: and, indeed, this plant, apart from the fruit that it bears, is looked upon as by no means the least remarkable. There are certain vegetable productions which cannot be propagated in the ground, and which grow nowhere but on trees; having no domicile of their own, they live upon others; such, for instance, is the case with the mistletoe, and a herb that grows in Syria, and is known as the “cadytas.”[2759] This last entwines around not only trees, but brambles even; in the neighbourhood of Tempe, too, in Thessaly, there is found a plant which is called “polypodion;”[2760] the dolichos[2761] is found also, and wild thyme.[2762] After the wild olive has been pruned there springs up a plant that is known as “phaulias;”[2763] while one that grows upon the fuller’s thistle is called the “hippophæston;”[2764] it has a thin, hollow stem, a small leaf, and a white root, the juice of which is considered extremely beneficial as a purgative in epilepsy.
CHAP. 93.—THREE VARIETIES OF MISTLETOE. THE NATURE OF MISTLETOE AND SIMILAR PLANTS.
There are three varieties of the mistletoe.[2765] That which grows upon the fir and the larch has the name of[2766] stelis in Eubœa; and there is the hyphear[2767] of Arcadia. It grows also upon the quercus,[2768] the robur, the holm-oak, the wild plum, and the terebinth, but upon no other tree.[2769] It is most plentiful of all upon the quercus, and is then known as “adasphear.” In all the trees, with the exception of the holm-oak and the quercus, there is a considerable difference in its smell and pungency, and the leaf of one kind has a disagreeable odour; both varieties, however, are sticky and bitter. The hyphear is the best for fattening[2770] cattle with; it begins, however, by purging off all defects, after which it fattens all such animals as have been able to withstand the purging. It is generally said, however, that those animals which have any radical malady in the intestines cannot withstand its drastic effects. This method of treatment is generally adopted in the summer for a period of forty days.
Besides the above, there is yet another difference[2771] in the mistletoe; that which grows upon the trees which lose their leaves, loses its leaves as well; while, on the other hand, that which grows upon evergreens always retains its leaves. In whatever way the seed may have been sown, it will never come to anything, unless it has been first swallowed[2772] and then voided by birds, the wood-pigeon more particularly, and the thrush: such being the nature of the plant, that it will not come to anything unless the seed is first ripened in the crop of the bird. It never exceeds a single cubit in height, and is always green and branchy. The male[2773] plant is fruitful, the female barren; sometimes, indeed, the male even bears no berry.