§2.8.1Ἡ χλοάζουσα χλοάζουσα δὲ χροιὰ ὀφείλει εἶναι πρᾶγμα κοινότατον ἐν τοῖς δένδροις.
The greenish, indeed greenish color must be a most common thing in trees.
Βλέπομεν γὰρ ὅτι, ὥσπερ κοινή ἐστιν ἡ λευκότης ἐντός, οὕτως καὶ ἡ χλοερότης ἐκτός.
For we see that, just as the whiteness inside is common, so also is the greenness outside.
Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι ὕλῃ χρῶνται πλησιωτέρᾳ ἤγουν μᾶλλον πεπεμμένῃ.
And this is because they use a closer, that is to say, more concocted matter.
§2.8.2Δεῖ τοίνυν ἵνα ᾖ χλοερότης ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς φυτοῖς, ὅτι αἱ ὖλαι ἕλκουσι καὶ ἀραιοῦσι τὸ ξύλον τοῦ δένδρου, βραχεῖάν τε ἡ θερμότης πέψιν ἐργάζεται, καὶ ἀπομένει τι ἐκεῖ ὑγρόν, ὃ φαίνεται ἔξωθεν· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἡ χλοερότης ἡ ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς, ἐὰν μὴ μείζων γένηται ἡ πέψις.
It is necessary, therefore, that there be greenness in all plants, because the matters draw and loosen the wood of the tree, and the heat works a slight concoction, and some moisture remains there, which is visible from the outside; and this is the greenness in plants, unless the concoction becomes greater.
Ὀφείλει δὲ εἶναι μέση ἐν τοῖς φύλλοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τῇ δυνάμει.
And it must be intermediate in capacity between the leaves and the wood.
§2.8.3Ἡ δὲ χλοερότης οὐ φθείρεται, ἐὰν ᾖ ὑγρότης ἐν αὐτῇ, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἐκ τοῦ γένους τῆς γῆς.
But the greenness is not destroyed if there is moisture in it, which is of the kind of earth.
Ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων γοῦν τούτων ἡ χροιὰ γίνεται ἡ χλοερά.
At any rate, from both of these the green color arises.
Τούτου σημεῖον ὅτι οἱ φλοιοὶ τοῦ δένδρου, ὅταν ξηραίνηται αὐτό, μελαίνονται, ἐντὸς δέ εἰσι λευκοί.
A sign of this is that the barks of the tree, when it is dried, become black, but inside they are white.
Ἐν τοῖς δένδροις γοῦν μεταξὺ τῶν δύο χρωμάτων χρῶμα χλοερὸν γίνεται ἐν τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ αὐτῶν.
At any rate, in trees, between the two colors, a green color arises on their surface.
§2.8.4Τοῦ δὲ σχήματος τῶν φυτῶν τρεῖς εἰσὶ τρόποι· τινὰ γὰρ ἄνω προχωροῦσι, τινὰ κάτω, τινὰ μέσον.
And of the shape of plants there are three ways: for some proceed upward, some downward, and some in the middle.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄνω ἐκτεινόμενα ἔχουσιν αἰτίαν, ὅτι ἡ φύσις αὐτῶν φαίνεται ἐν τῇ ἐντεριώνῃ, καὶ ἕλκει τὴν θερμότητα, καὶ συμπιέζει ἐν ἑαυτῇ τὸν ἀέρα τὸν ὄντα ἐν ταῖς ἀραιότησιν αὐτῆς.
Now those that extend upward have this cause, that their nature appears in the pith, and it draws the heat, and compresses within itself the air that is in its looseness of texture.
§2.8.5Πυραμιδοῦνται δέ, ὥσπερ πυραμιδοῦται τὸ πῦρ ἐν ταῖς ἐδίαις ὕλαις καὶ κουφίζεται.
And they become pyramidal, just as fire becomes pyramidal in its own materials and becomes light.
Ὅσα δὲ κάτω ἐκτείνεται, τούτων οἱ πόροι συμπήγνυνται.
But as for those that extend downward, their pores are solidified.
Ὅταν γὰρ πέψις γένηται, τότε ἡ ὕλη πυκνοῦται τοῦ ὑγροῦ, ἐν ᾦ ἐστὶν ἡ ἐντεριώνη.
For when concoction takes place, then the matter of the moisture in which the pith is located becomes dense.
Κἀντεῦθεν ἐκπορεύεται μὲν τὸ λεπτὸν ἄνω, ἐπαναστρέφει δὲ τὸ ὑγρὸν πρὸς τὰ μέρη ἐκεῖνα κάτω· κινεῖ γὰρ ταύτην ἡ οἰκεία βαρύτης.
And from this, the thin part indeed comes forth upward, but the moisture returns downward toward those parts; for its own weight moves it.
Ἃ δὲ φυτὰ μέσον τῶν δύο εἰσίν, ἔχουσιν οὕτως.
And those plants that are in the middle of the two are in this way.
§2.8.6Λεπτύνεται τὸ ὑγρόν, ὅτι ἡ φύσις τῆς εὐκρασίας γειτνιάζει τῇ πέψει, εἰσί τε καὶ οἱ πόροι μέσοι, καὶ ἡ ὕλη ἐπεκτείνεται καὶ ἄνω καὶ κάτω.
The moisture is thinned because the nature of the good temperature is near to concoction, and the pores are also intermediate, and the matter extends both upward and downward.
§2.8.7Ἔστι δὲ ἡ μὲν πρώτη πέψις ὑπὸ τὸ φυτόν, δὲ δευτέρα ἐν τῇ ἐντεριώνῃ, ἥτις ἐξέρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τοῦ φυτοῦ· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα γίνεται ἡ διαίρεσις, ἥτις συμβαίνει ἀπὸ τῆς δευτέρας, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης πέψεως.
And the first concoction is under the plant, and the second is in the pith, which indeed comes forth from the earth, and is also in the middle of the plant; and after these things the division occurs, which happens from the second, not from the first concoction.
§2.8.8Ἡ δὲ τρίτη πέψις ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ζῴῳ· οὐ γὰρ γίνεται αὕτη ἡ πέψις εἰ μὴ διὰ τὴν διαίρεσιν τῆς φύσεως τῶν μελῶν καὶ τὴν διάστασιν τῶν φυσικῶν πρὸς ἄλληλα.
But the third concoction is in the animal; for this concoction does not take place except through the division of the nature of the members and the distance of the natural things from one another.
Τὰ δὲ φυτὰ γείτονά εἰσι πρὸς ἑαυτά, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πληθύνονται ἐν πολλοῖς τόποις.
But plants are near to themselves, and for this reason they multiply in many places.
Ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον δὲ ἡ ὕλη τῶν φυτῶν κάτω ἐκτείνεται,
And for the most part, the matter of plants extends downward.
§2.8.9Τὰ σχήματα τοίνυν τῶν φυτῶν εἰσὶν ἐν τῇ φύσει καὶ τῇ ποσότητι τῶν σπερμάτων, τὰ ἄνθη δὲ τῶν φυτῶν καὶ οἱ καρποί εἰσιν ἐν ταῖς ὑγρότησι καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὕλαις.
The shapes, therefore, of plants are in the nature and quantity of the seeds, but the flowers and fruits of plants are in the moistures and in the matters.
Κεῖται τοίνυν ἡ πρώτη κίνησις καθολικῶς καὶ ἡ πέψις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ζῴοις, καὶ οὐκ ἀποχωροῦσιν ἀπ’ αὐτῆς πάντα τὰ ζῷα.
The first movement, therefore, universally, and the concoction lie in all animals, and all animals do not depart from it.
§2.8.10Ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς δέ ἐστιν ἡ πρώτη πέψις, εἶτα ἡ πέπανσις κατὰ τὴν τροφὴν αὐτῶν.
But in plants there is the first concoction, then the ripening according to their nourishment.
Ἕκαστον οὖν δένδρον ἀναβαίνει ἀεί, ἔστ’ ἂν πληρωθείη.
Therefore, each tree always ascends until it is fulfilled.
Αἰτία δὲ αὕτη ἐστίν, ὅτι ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ζῴων ἑκάστου τὸ μῆκος πλησίον ἐστὶ τοῦ ἰδίου πλάτους, ἐν τῷ φυτῷ δὲ πόρρω, ὅτι ἡ ῥίζα αὐτοῦ, ἤγουν τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, σπεύδουσιν εἰς ἀνάβασιν, ἵνα δημιουγηθῇ τὸ φυτόν.
And this is the cause, that in animals the length of each is near to its own width, but in the plant it is far, because its root, that is to say, fire and water, hasten to ascend, so that the plant may be fashioned.
§2.8.11Ἡ διαφορὰ δὲ τῶν φυτῶν ἐν τοῖς κλάδοις ἐστὶν ἐκ τῆς περιττῆς ἀραιότητος.
And the difference of plants in their branches is from the excessive looseness of texture.
Ὅταν γὰρ συμπιεσθῶσιν οἱ χυμοί, θερμαίνεται ἡ φύσις καὶ σπεύδει εἰς τὴν πέψιν, κἀντεῦθεν τυποῦνται οἱ κλάδοι καὶ φύεται τὰ φύλλα, ὡς προείπομεν.
For when the juices are compressed, nature is heated and hastens to concoction, and from this the branches are shaped and the leaves grow, as we have said before.