Egypt, too, produces another tree of a peculiar description,
the Persian[1] tree, similar in appearance to the pear-tree, but
retaining its leaves during the winter. This tree produces
without intermission, for if the fruit is pulled to-day, fresh
fruit will make its appearance to-morrow: the time for ripening is while the Etesian[2] winds prevail. The fruit of this
tree is more oblong than a pear, but is enclosed in a shell and
a rind of a grassy colour, like the almond; but what is found
within, instead of being a nut as in the almond, is a plum,
differing from the almond[3] in being shorter and quite soft. This
fruit, although particularly inviting for its luscious sweetness,
is productive of no injurious effects. The wood, for its goodness, solidity, and blackness, is in no respect inferior to that
of the lotus: people have been in the habit of making statues
of it. The wood of the tree which we have mentioned as
the "balanus,"[4] although very durable, is not so highly esteemed as this, as it is knotted and twisted in the greater
part: hence it is only employed for the purposes of shipbuilding.
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