The cypress, the walnut, the chesnut, and the laburnum,2411 are averse to water. This last tree is also a native of the Alps, and far from generally known: the wood is hard and white,2412 and the flowers, which are a cubit2413 in length, no bee will ever touch. The shrub, too, known as Jupiter’s beard,2414 manifests an equal dislike to water: it is often clipped, and is employed in ornamental gardening, being of a round, bushy form, with a silvery leaf. The willow, the alder, the poplar,2415 the siler,2416 and the privet,2417 so extensively employed for making tallies,2418 will only grow in damp, watery places; which is the case also with the vaccinium,2419 grown in Italy for drugging our slaves,2420 and in Gaul for the purpose of dyeing the garments of slaves a purple colour. All those trees2421 which are common to the mountains and the plains, grow to a larger size, and are of more comely appearance when grown on the plains, while those found on the mountains have a better wood and more finely veined, with the exception of the apple and the pear.