In addition to the palm, Syria has several trees that are peculiar to itself. Among the nut-trees there is the pistacia,[822] well known among us. It is said that, taken either in food or drink, the kernel of this nut is a specific against the bite of serpents. Among figs, too, there are those known as “caricæ,”[823] together with some smaller ones of a similar kind, the name of which is “cottana.” There is a plum, too, which grows upon Mount Damascus,[824] as also that known as the “myxa;”[825] these last two are, however, now naturalized in Italy. In Egypt, too, they make a kind of wine from the myxa. CHAP. 11.—THE CEDAR. TREES WHICH HAVE ON THEM THE FRUIT OF THREE YEARS AT ONCE. Phœnicia, too, produces a small cedar, which bears a strong resemblance to the juniper.[826] Of this tree there are two varieties; the one found in Lycia, the other in Phœnicia.[827] The difference is in the leaf: the one in which it is hard, sharp, and prickly, being known as the oxycedros,[828] a branchy tree and rugged with knots. The other kind is more esteemed for its powerful odour. The small cedar produces a fruit the size of a grain of myrrh, and of a sweetish taste. There are two kinds of the larger cedar[829] also; the one that blossoms bears no fruit, while, on the other hand, the one that bears fruit has no blossom, and the fruit, as it falls, is being continually replaced by fresh. The seed of this tree is similar to that of the cypress. Some persons give this tree the name of “cedrelates.” The resin produced from it is very highly praised, and the wood of it lasts for ever, for which reason it is that they have long been in the habit of using it for making the statues of the gods. In a temple at Rome there is a statue of Apollo Sosianus[830] in cedar, originally brought from Seleucia. There is a tree similar to the cedar, found also in Arcadia; and there is a shrub that grows in Phrygia, known as the “cedrus.” CHAP. 12. (6.)—THE TEREBINTH.[831] Syria, too, produces the terebinth, the male tree of which bears no fruit, and the female consists of two different varieties;[832] 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[833] which oozes from the bark. CHAP. 13.—THE SUMACH-TREE.