Latin Texts & Translations

The cypress, the walnut, the chesnut, and the laburnum, ^[Note] are averse to water. This last tree is also a native of the Alps, and far from generally known: the wood is hard and white, ^[Note] and the flowers, which are a cubit ^[Note] in length, no bee will ever touch. The shrub, too, known as Jupiter's beard, ^[Note] manifests an equal dislike to water: it is often clipped, and is employed in ornamental gardening, being of a round, bushy form, with a silvery leaf. The willow, the alder, the poplar, ^[Note] the siler, ^[Note] and the privet, ^[Note] so extensively employed for making tallies, ^[Note] will only grow in damp, watery places; which is the

case also with the vaccinium, ^[Note] grown in Italy for drugging our slaves, ^[Note] and in Gaul for the purpose of dyeing the garments of slaves a purple colour. All those trees ^[Note] which are common to the mountains and the plains, grow to a larger size, and are of more comely appearance when grown on the plains, while those found on the mountains have a better wood and more finely veined, with the exception of the apple and the pear.