The pinaster is nothing else but a wild pine: it rises to a surprising height, and throws out branches from the middle, just as the pine does from the top. This tree yields a more copious supply of resin than the pine: the mode in which this is done we shall set forth[2298] on a future occasion. It grows also in flat countries. Many people think that this is the same tree that grows along the shores of Italy, and is known as the “tibulus;”[2299] but this last is slender, and more compact than the pine; it is likewise free from knots, and hence is used in the construction of light gallies;[2300] they are both almost entirely destitute of resin.
CHAP. 18.—THE PITCH-TREE: THE FIR.
The pitch-tree[2301] loves the mountain heights and cold localities. This is a funereal tree, and, as an emblem of death, is placed before the door of the deceased, and is left to grow in the vicinity of the funeral pile. Still, however, it is now some time since it was admitted into our gardens, in consequence of the facility with which it is clipped into various shapes. It gives out considerable quantities of resin,[2302] which is intermingled with white granulations like pearls, and so similar in appearance to frankincense, that when mixed, it is impossible to distinguish them; hence the adulterations we find practised in the Seplasia.[2303] All this class of trees have a short bristly leaf, thick and hard, like that of the cypress. The branches of the pitch-tree are of moderate size, and extend from almost the very root of the tree, adhering to the sides like so many arms: the same is the case with the fir,[2304] the wood of which is held in great esteem for ship-building.
This tree grows upon the summits of lofty mountains, as though, in fact, it had an antipathy to the sea, and it does not at all differ from the pitch-tree in appearance: the wood is also very highly esteemed for the construction of rafters, and many other appliances of life. A flow of resin, which in the pitch-tree constitutes its great merit, is looked upon as a defect in the fir,[2305] though it will generally exude in some small quantity on exposure of the wood, to the action of the sun. On the other hand, the wood which in the fir-tree is remarkably fine, in the pitch-tree is only used for making shingles, vats, and a few other articles of joiners’ work.
CHAP. 19.—THE LARCH: THE TORCH-TREE.
The fifth kind of resinous tree has the same localities, and is very similar in appearance; it is known as the larch.[2306] The wood of this tree is far more valuable, being unimpaired by time, and proof against all decay; it is of a reddish colour, and of an acrid smell. Resin[2307] flows from this wood in still greater quantities; it is of the colour of honey, more viscous than the other varieties, and never turns hard.
A sixth variety is the torch-tree,[2308] properly so called, which gives out more resin than any of the others, with the exception of the pitch-tree; but its resin is more liquid than that of this last. The wood, too, of this tree is more particularly employed for kindling fires and giving torch-light in religious ceremonials. Of this tree it is the male only that bears what is known to the Greeks by the name of “syce,”[2309] remarkable for its extremely powerful odour. When the larch[2310] is changed into the torch-tree, it is a proof that it is in a diseased state.
The wood of all these trees, when set fire to, gives out immoderate volumes of sooty smoke,[2311] and sputters every now and then with a sudden crackling noise, while it sends out red-hot charcoal to a considerable distance—with the sole exception of that of the larch, which will neither burn[2312] nor char, nor, in fact, suffer any more from the action of fire than a stone. All these trees are evergreens, and are not easily[2313] distinguished by the foliage, even by those who are best acquainted with them, so nearly related are they to one another. The pitch-tree, however, is not so high as the larch; which, again, is stouter, and has a smoother bark, with a more velvety leaf, more unctuous to the touch, thicker, and more soft and flexible.[2314] The pitch-tree, again, has a leaf more sparsely scattered and drier; it is thinner also, and of a colder nature, rougher all over in appearance, and covered with a resinous deposit: the wood of this tree is most like that of the fir. The larch, when the roots are once burnt, will not throw out fresh shoots, which the pitch-tree will do, as was found to be the case in the island of Lesbos, after the Pyrrhæan grove had been burnt there.
In the same species too, the variety of sex[2315] is found to constitute a considerable difference: the male is the shorter tree, and has a harder wood; while the female is taller, and bears a leaf more unctuous to the feel, smooth and free from all rigidity. The wood of the male tree is hard and awry, and consequently not so well suited for carpenters’ work; while that of the female is softer, as may be very easily perceived on the application of the axe, a test, in fact, which, in every variety, immediately shows us which trees are males; the axe in such case meeting with a greater resistance, falling with a louder noise, and being withdrawn from the wood with considerably greater difficulty: the wood of the male tree is more parched too, and the root is of a blacker hue. In the vicinity of Mount Ida, in Troas, the circumstance whether the tree grows in the mountain districts or on the sea-shore, makes another considerable difference. In Macedonia and Arcadia, and in the neighbourhood of Elis, the names of the several varieties have been totally altered, and it has not been agreed by authors which name ought to be given to each: we have, therefore, contented ourselves with employing the Roman denominations solely.