Theophrastus
the Greek, was born nearly 2,370 years ago. Ignored by modern
Classicists (who can’t cope with his botany) his De Historia
Plantarum and De Causis Plantarum contain a mine
of information. Theophrastus was essentially the first botanical
taxonomist. He covered around 500 plants divided into trees,
shrubs, sub-shrubs and herbs. You will find lots of interest
about East Mediterranean plants plus some from much farther
afield - he interrogated the scientists who accompanied Alexander
the Great on his conquests, thus you can find references to
pepper and cinnamon for example. He is particularly interesting
on cereals, vegetables and of course the vine, the date, the
olive and the fig. He was the first to describe hand pollination
of the date palm and his details on fig caprification show that
our early farmers really knew their subject. In order to prevent
the abortion of their embryo cultivar figs the farmers arranged
that ripe wild figs were hung in orchards of the cultivars at
embryo stage, or even went so far as to interplant the early,
intermediate and late cultivars (you get three crops per annum
in the Mediterranean) with the appropriate wild variety. They
were aware of the galls which develop in the inedible or goat-fig
and were aware of the insect which came out of the ripe fruit
and entered the embryo fruit, allowing it to develop to an edible
fig. The flower of a fig of course, is very unusual in that
it is completely enclosed within the fig itself and never seen,
male flowers at the top and female below. It is fertilised by
a tiny wasp which leaves the ripe fig and enters the embryo
fig via a minute hole at the top, which is hidden by overlapping
scales. Each species of fig has developed a symbiosis with a
different wasp over the last 100 million years. But what makes
the observations of those Greek farmers so amazing is that it
has taken until the last three decades of this century, for
the life cycle of the fig wasp to be completely elucidated.
Like the primrose, the fig exhibits heterostyly and has trees
with short styles which develop the galls providing food for
the wasps to develop and leading to the inedible goat-figs;
or those trees with long styles where the pollen from the wasp
fertilises the embryo fig producing the edible fig with seeds.
Theophrastus was puzzled however, how in Italy and some other
places they claimed that caprification was not required. In
fact these were the Adriatic figs which are parthenocarpic and
can produce fruits without fertilisation, leading to the seedless
edible figs.
Theophrastus also must have questioned all the carpenters as
he adds much detail on the uses of different woods. ‘Wood
which is too green closes up again when sawn, and the sawdust
catches in the saw’s teeth and clogs them; wherefore the
teeth of the saw are set alternate ways, to get rid of the sawdust.’
‘Maple is used for making beds and yokes of beasts of burden.
Yew for the ornamental work attached to chests and footstools.
Kermes-oak for the axles of wheel barrows and the cross bars
of lyres and psalteries; beech for the making of waggons and
cheap carts; elm for the making of doors and weasel-traps.’
‘Silver-Fir was considered the strongest and once glued
never came apart. It was, together with cedar used for boat
building. Silver-fir also gives timber of the greatest lengths
and of the straightest growth; wherefore yard-arms and masts
are made from it.’ ‘For triremes and long ships are
made of silver-fir, because it does not decay…but the keel for
a trireme is made of oak, that it may stand the hauling. However
oak wood does not join well with glue on to fir or silver-fir;
for the one is of close, the other of open grain, the one is
uniform, the other not so.’ ‘The wood of the elm is
least likely to warp; wherefore they make the hinges of doors
out of elm wood; for if these hold, the doors also keep in place.
They make the hinges by putting wood from the root above and
wood from the foliage below, thus reversing the natural position.
For when these are fitted the one into the other, each counteracts
the other, as they naturally tend in opposite directions; whereas
if the wood were set as it grows, all the parts would give when
the strain came… elm does not decay if exposed to the air, nor
oak if it is buried or soaked in water; for it appears to be
entirely proof against decay; wherefore they built vessels out
of it for use on rivers and lakes, but in sea water it rots,
though other woods last all the better.’ Elsewhere Theophrastus
discusses seed sowing, germination times, watering and feeding.
There are hints on propagation by cuttings or by seed. Sections
on oils, perfumes and odours; sections on drugs, cures and antidotes-
‘Hemlock has virtues of a poison which produces an easy
and painless end.’ |
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