CHAP. 90.—TREES WHICH ARE THE MOST SHORT-LIVED.
On the other hand, the pomegranate, [Note] 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, [Note] 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, [Note] 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.
