The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)

Chapter 363: CHAP. 55. (31.)—THE BARK OF TREES.

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The work assembles systematic observations on animals, insects, and trees, combining natural history with practical notes. It surveys insect forms and habits, including bees, silk‑producing worms, spiders, and parasitic species, and discusses reproduction, classification, diseases, and useful products like honey and silk. It then examines animal anatomy in detail, limb by limb and organ by organ, comparing organs, vital functions, and bodily peculiarities across species. Later sections catalogue trees and exotic plants, describing aromatic gums, spices, frankincense, myrrh, and methods for producing and testing unguents and perfumes, and noting their uses and regions of origin.

CHAP. 55. (31.)—THE BARK OF TREES.

In some trees the bark 2544 is thin, as in the laurel and the lime; in others, again, it is thick, as in the robur; in some it is smooth, as in the apple and the fig, while in the robur and the palm it is rough: in all kinds it becomes more wrinkled when the tree is old. In some trees the bark bursts spontaneously, as in the vine for instance, while in others it falls off even, as we see in the apple and the arbutus. In the cork-tree and the poplar, the bark is substantial and fleshy; in the vine and the reed it is membraneous. In the cherry it is similar to the coats of the papyrus, while in the vine, the lime, and the fir, it is composed of numerous layers. In others, again, it is single, the fig and the reed for instance.