Theophrasti De Historia Plantarum (1483 Incunabulum)

They bear small spines, as does lettuce, and all leaves are rendered spinose. This is even more the case in the category of shrubs, such as the bramble and the paliurus Christ's thorn. However, the difference between all trees and the rest is a matter of common knowledge. Some consist of many leaves, others of few; some are broad, others narrow; some are arranged in order, such as the myrtle myrtus, while others are disordered, as happens by chance, which is the case for almost the majority of other plants. A peculiarity in vegetables, such as the onion or the leek gethyon, is the concavity of the leaves.

To summarize the differentiation of leaves: it is by magnitude, or multitude, or figure, or breadth, or narrowness, or concavity, or roughness, or smoothness, or by whether they bristle with needles or not. Beyond these, it depends on their point of attachment—that is, whether from the root, the bud, the stem, or the branch. This is the pediculus leaf stalk/petiole, or sometimes they exist without one. Of this category, many types are observed, including some fruit-bearing plants that grow fruit intercepted by the leaves, such as the Alexandrian laurel laurus alexandrina, which produces fruit upon its leaves. We have already spoken more commonly of the shapes of leaves, and they are almost entirely contained by these classifications.

Leaves consist of a nerve, a rind, and flesh, such as the fig and the vine. Others consist as if of a nerve alone, such as the reed or grain. There is a common fluid in all of them, for it is present in these, just as in the remaining annuals, such as in the stalk, the flower, the fruit, and whatever else may come, or rather, even in those that are less annual, for there is nothing that lacks moisture.

The stalks of some seem to consist only of a nerve, such as those of the reed or grain; others consist of the same materials as their stems. The flowers of some consist of rind, vein, and flesh; others consist of flesh alone, such as those that grow among the tares. In a similar manner, the fruits also differ: some consist of flesh and nerve, others of flesh alone, and some even consist of a skin. Moisture accompanies all of these as well: some from flesh and nerve, such as plums or cucumbers; others from moisture and skin, such as the mulberry or the pomegranate.

Others distinguish them differently: the outer part of all, if I may say so, is the rind, and the inner part is the flesh. Some also have a kernel. Finally, in food, there is the seed. This holds within itself moisture and heat in its natural state; when these cease, the seed becomes infertile, just as an unfertilized egg is left behind. In some, the seed lies immediately beneath the covering, such as the palm, the nut, or the almond. Those with several coverings, such as the palm, have flesh and a kernel lying between them, such as the olive or the plum. Others are enclosed in pods, others are clothed in follicles, and others are contained in vessels.

Some even lie open and naked: in pods, such as legumes and most wild plants, they are annual. Indeed, some trees—such as the pod-bearer they call the Egyptian fig, as well as the cercis Judas tree and the coloetis a type of lotus or tree of the Lipari islands—contain their seeds in a follicle. Among annuals, some are like wheat or millet. In a similar manner, they are enclosed in a vessel or lie naked in a vessel, such as the poppy and those similar to the poppy, for the sesame has a peculiar method.

Most vegetables have naked seeds, such as the anise, the coriander, the cumin, the seed-vessel, and many others. No tree has a naked seed; rather, it is covered by flesh, skin, or a crust, such as the acorn or the Euboean nut, or by wood, such as the almond and the walnut. No tree seed exists in a vessel, unless you call a cone a vessel, which can be concluded from the discussion of fruits. The seeds themselves in some are immediately fleshy, such as those which are included in the category of nuts and acorns. In some, the flesh is in the kernel, such as the olive, the laurel, and others. There are not lacking those in which it is only in the kernel, or those that are kernel-like and consist as if of something dried out, such as the safflower cnicus and similar things, as well as many vegetables. The palm is certainly most evident. For these have no cavity, but are entirely full and completely solid. Nevertheless, even in these, a certain moisture and heat are present, as has been said.