Natural History of Gaius Plinius Secundus, Vol. 2

Moreover, of all lands, Egypt is the most suited to ointments; after it is Campania, with its abundance of roses.

Of palms, and the nature of them, and their kinds. Chapter IV.

Judea is famous, or even more so, for its palms, the nature of which will now be described. They do indeed exist in Europe and commonly in Italy, but they are barren. They bear fruit in the maritime parts of Spain, but it is harsh; in Africa it is sweet, but immediately vanishes. On the contrary, in the East, wines are made from them, and for some nations, they are bread; for very many, they are also food for four-footed animals. For which reason, they will rightly be called foreign. None is born in Italy spontaneously, nor in any other part of the world except in a warm climate. They are nowhere fruit-bearing except in a hot one. It grows in light and sandy soil, for the most part, and nitreous. It rejoices also in irrigated lands, and as it likes to drink all year round, it also likes a thirsty year. Some think it is even harmed by manure, and some part of the Assyrians, if it is not mixed with streams. There are many kinds of them: the first not exceeding a shrub, this one sterile, though in other places it is itself fertile, and leafy with a short circle of branches. In most places, this one serves as a substitute for tiling on walls against splashes. In the taller ones, there is a forest on the tree itself, with the spine of the leaves sprouting around the whole in the manner of a comb, which must be understood as wild. Yet, with uncertain impulse, they even mix themselves with the milder ones. The rest are rounded and tall, with dense, stepped rings of bark like circles, providing themselves easily for climbing to the peoples of the East, useful for them and for the coverings of the tree.