(which becomes closer as it gets higher up the tree) like the outline of the leaves.[1] And this part of it can be stripped off by peeling, whereas with the other part[2] this is not possible and it has to be cut in short lengths.[3] In the same manner part is removed by being split off in flakes as thin as a leaf, while the rest can be left and protects the tree, growing about it as described. If the bark is stripped off when the tree is peeling, there is also at the time a discharge of the sap; further, when only the outside coat is stripped off, what remains tarns black with a kind[4] of mucus-like moisture and in the second year another coat grows to replace what is lost, but this is thinner. The wood in its fibres is like the bark, twisting spirally,[5] and the branches grow in the same manner from the first; and, as the tree grows, it comes to pass that the lower branches keep on perishing, while the upper ones increase. However the whole tree is not much branched, but has far fewer branches than the black poplar. Its roots are numerous and shallow and not very thick; and there is a similar twisting of the root and of the bark which surrounds it. [6]The flower is white, like that of the pear and medlar, composed of a number of small blossoms arranged like a honeycomb. The fruit is red, like that of diospyros in shape, and in size is is as large as a bean. However the stone of the diospyros fruit is hard, while that of the bird-cherry is soft. The tree grows where the lime grows, and in general where there are rivers and damp places.
[7]The elder also grows chiefly by water and in shady
- ↑ Which is an ellipse, the segment of a cylinder: so Sch. explains.
- ↑ ἐκεῖνος: i.e. lower down the trunk, where the spiral is less open.
- ↑ ἐπίτομος: cf. 5. 1. 12.
- ↑ ὥσπερ conj. Sch.; περ MV; πως Ald.H.
- ↑ στρεπτῶς ἑλιττόμενον conj. Sch.; στρεπτῷ ἑλιττομένωι U; στρεπτῷ ἑλιττομένῳ Ald.
- ↑ cf. 3. 12. 7.
- ↑ Plin. 17. 151.
