[2444] This seems to be the meaning of “In aliis gentium lana est.” He alludes, probably, to cotton or silk: see B. vi. c. 20. Thunberg tells us that at Roodesand, near the Cape of Good Hope, there grows so thick a down on the Buplevrum giganteum of Lamarck, that it is employed to imitate a sort of white velvet, and is used for bonnets, gloves, stockings, &c.
[2446] “Genere ilicum.” It is not improbable that he here refers to the variety of the holm-oak which he has previously called “aquifolia,” apparently confounding it with the holly. See c. [8] of this Book.
[2448] This must be understood of the young leaf of the alder, which has a sort of thick gummy varnish on it.
[2450] B. xv. c. [15]. Pliny is not correct here; the leaf of the pear is oval or lanceolated, while that of the apple is oval and somewhat angular, though not exactly “mucronata,” or sharply pointed.
[2451] Not exactly “divided,” but strongly lobed.
[2452] If this is the case, the pitch-tree can hardly be identical with the false fir, the Abies excelsa of Decandolles. See c. [18] of this Book, and the Note.
[2453] This passage would be apt to mislead, did we not know that the leaves of the coniferous trees here mentioned are not prickly, in the same sense as those of the holly, which are armed with very formidable weapons.