Natural History of Gaius Plinius Secundus, Vol. 2

...with the fruit growing underneath the next day. Its maturity is due to the blowing of the Etesian winds. The fruit is longer than a pear, enclosed in the shell and skin of an almond, and green in color; but where the nut has its stone, this has fruit, differing in shortness and softness; and although its excessive sweetness is enticing, it is harmless. The timber does not differ in goodness, firmness, or blackness from the lotus. They have fashioned statues from it, though not with the same grace as the faithful timber—such as from the tree we called the balanus, which is for the most part twisted. Therefore, it is only for naval use. But, on the contrary, the cuci is held in great honor, similar to the palm, since its leaves are used for textiles. It differs in that it spreads out into arms of branches. The fruit is the size that fills a hand, of a tawny color, and commendable for its juice, which is between tart and sweet. The wood inside is of great and firm hardness, from which they turn curtain rings. Within it, the kernel is sweet while it is fresh. When dried, it hardens to infinity, so that it cannot be chewed unless it has been soaked for several days. The timber is of a more curled elegance, and for that reason most pleasing to the Persians. Nor is the thorn any less celebrated in that same nation, specifically the black one, since it lasts incorrupt even in water; for that reason, it is most useful for the ribs of ships. The white one rots easily. The prickle of the thorns is also in the leaves. The seed is in pods, with which leather is finished in place of galls. The flower is pleasant for garlands and useful for medicines. Gum also flows from it. But the principal utility is that when cut, it grows back in the third year. This is found around Thebes, where also the oak, the persica, and the olive are, three hundred stadia from the Nile, in a wild tract and irrigated by its own springs.

Of the plum and the trees around Memphis. Chapter X.

Where also the Egyptian plum is found, not unlike the thorn mentioned just before, with the fruit of a medlar, ripening in midwinter...