CHAP. 12. (6.)—THE TEREBINTH. [Note]
Syria, too, produces the terebinth, the male tree of which
bears no fruit, and the female consists of two different varieties; [Note] one of these bears a red fruit, the size of a lentil,
while the other is pale, and ripens at the same period as
the grape. This fruit is not larger than a bean, is of a very
agreeable smell, and sticky and resinous to the touch. About
Ida in Troas, and in Macedonia, this tree is short and shrubby,
but at Damascus, in Syria, it is found of very considerable size.
Its wood is remarkably flexible, and continues sound to a very
advanced age: it is black and shining. The blossoms appear
in clusters, like those of the olive-tree, but are of a red colour;
the leaves are dense, and closely packed. It produces follicules, too, from which issue certain insects like gnats, as also a
kind of resinous liquid [Note] which oozes from the bark.
