Folio 80v - Of trees, continued. Ysidorus de natura hominis; Isidorus on the nature of man
and soft because it is nourished in a wet environment.
Again
The elm, ulmus, gets its name because it flourishes in a damp, uliginosus, environment. It does less well in mountainous and harsh places.
The poplar, populus, is so called because from a single cutting many can be grown. There are two kinds of species: for one is white, the other black. The silver poplar, alba populus, is so called because its leaves are white on one side, green on the other. It is therefore bi-coloured, as if it carried the signs of night and day, which it displays in accordance with the time and position of the sun.
The poplar which grows in the region of the River Po, Eridanus, or as others relate, in Syria, also produces a resin.
Again
The willow, salix, is so called because it springs, salire, swiftly, that is, grows rapidly. It is a pliant tree, suitable as a support on which to bind vines.
They say it is the nature of its seed that if a man drinks it in a potion, he will be sterile; but it also makes women barren.
The poplar, the willow and the lime tree, are of soft wood and suitable for carving.
Again
The osier, vimen, is so called because they have great strength in their greenery. Its nature is such that even if it is dried, it grows green again when you moisten it; if you then cut it and plant it in the ground, it takes root.
Again
The word for the box tree, buxus, is Greek, partly corrupted in Latin; for it is called pixos in Greek.
It is always green and of a smooth wood, suitable for the letters of the alphabet. For this reason, the Scripture says: 'Write it on box wood' (see Isaiah, 30:8).
Isidorus on the nature of man
Nature, natura, is so called because it brings a thing to birth, nasci, for it has the power to beget and to form. Some have said that nature is God, by whom all things are created and exist.
Race, genus, comes from gignere, to generate; this derives from the word for 'earth',