Preface
Introduction
Book I
Of The Parts Of Plants And Their Composition
Of Classification
Introductory: How plants are to be classified; difficulty of defining what are the essential ’ parts’ of a plant, especially if plants are assumed to correspond to animals
The essential parts of plants, and the materials of which they are made
Definitions of the various classes into which plants may be divided
Exact classification impracticable: other possible bases of classification
Differences as to appearance and habitat
Characteristic differences in the parts of plants, whether general, special, or seen in qualities and properties
Differences as to qualities and properties
Further special differences
Differences in root
Of trees (principally) and their characteristic special differences: as to knots
As to habit
As to shedding of leaves
Differences in leaves
Composition of the various parts of a plant
Differences in seeds
Differences in taste
Differences in flowers
Differences in fruits
General differences (affecting the whole plant)
Book II
Of Propagation, Especially of Trees
Of the ways in which trees and plants originate. Instances of degeneration from seed
Effects of situation, climate, tendance
Of spontaneous changes in the character of trees, and of certain marvels
Of spontaneous and other changes in other plants
Of methods of propagation, with notes on cultivation
Of the propagation of the date-palm; of palms in general
Further notes on the propagation of trees
Of the cultivation of trees
Of remedies for the shedding of the fruit: caprification
Book III
Of Wild Tubes
Of the ways in which wild trees originate
Of the differences between wild and cultivated trees
Of mountain trees: of the differences found in wild trees
Of the times of budding and fruiting of wild, as compared with cultivated, trees
Of the seasons of budding
Of the comparative rate of growth in trees, and of the length of their roots
Of the effects of cutting down the whole or part of a tree
Of other things borne by trees besides their leaves flowers and fruit
Of ’male’ and ’female’ in trees : the oak as an example of this and other differences
Of the differences in firs
Of beech, yew, hop-hornbeam, lime
Of maple and ash
Of cornelian cherry, cornel, ’cedars,’ medlar, thorns, sorb
Of bird-cherry, elder, willow •
Of elm, poplars, alder, [semyda, bladder-senna]
Of filbert, terebinth, box, krataigos
Of certain other oaks, arbutus, andrachne, wig-tree
Of cork-oak, kolatea, koloitia, and of certain other trees peculiar to particular localities
Of the differences in various shrubs—buckthorn, withy, Christ’s thorn, bramble, sumach, ivy, smilax, [spindle-tree]
Book IV
Of The Trees And Plants Special To Particular Districts And Positions
Of the importance of position and climate
Of the trees special to Egypt, and of the carob
Of the trees and shrubs special to Libya
Of the trees and herbs special to Asia
Of the plants special to northern regions
Of the aquatic plants of the Mediterranean
Of the aquatic plants of the ’outer sea’ (i.e. Atlantic, Persian Gulf, etc.)
Of the plants of rivers, marshes, and lakes, especially in Egypt
Of the plants peculiar to the lake of Orchomenos (Lake Copaïs), especially its reeds, and of reeds in general
Of rushes
Of the length or shortness of the life of plants, and the causes
Of diseases and injuries done by weather conditions
Of the effects on trees of removing bark, head, heartwood, roots, etc.; of various causes of death
Book V
Of The Timber Of Various Trees And Its Uses
Of the seasons of cutting
Of the wood of silver-fir and fir
Of the effects on timber of climate
Of knots and ’coiling’ in timber
Of differences in the texture of different woods
Of differences in timber as to hardness and heaviness
Of differences in the keeping quality of timber
Which kinds of wood are easy and which hard to work
Of the core and its effects
Which woods can best support weight
Of the woods best suited for the carpenter’s various purposes
Of the woods used in ship-building
Of the woods used in house-building
Of the uses of the wood of particular trees
Of the localities in which the best timber grows
Of the uses of various woods in making fire: charcoal, fuel, fire-sticks
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