''On Plants'' ( el, Περὶ φυτῶν; la, De plantis) is a botanical treatise included in the Corpus Aristotelicum but usually regarded as

Pseudo-Aristotle Pseudo-Aristotle is a general cognomen for authors of philosophical or medical treatises who attributed their work to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or whose work was later attributed to him by others. Such falsely attributed works are known as ps ...

. In 1923, a manuscript containing the original Arabic translation from Greek, as done by Ishaq ibn Hunayn, was discovered in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, which led scholars to conclude the work was likely an exegesis/commentary by philosopher

Nicolaus of Damascus Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: , ''Nikolāos Damaskēnos''; Latin: ''Nicolaus Damascenus'') was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He w ...

(d. 4 AD) on a treatise by Aristotle which is now lost. ''On Plants'' describes the nature and origins of plants.

Content

The work is divided into two parts.

Part 1

The first part discusses the nature of plant life, sex in plants, the parts of plants, the structure of plants, the classification of plants, the composition and products of plants, the methods of propagation and fertilization of plants, and the changes and variations of plants.

Part 2

The second part describes the origins of plant life, the material of plants, the effects of external conditions and climate on plants, water plants, rock plants, effects of locality on plants, parasitism, the production of fruits and leaves, the colors and shapes of plants, and fruits and their flavors.

Translations

" Alfred the Englishman translated the Arabic version into Latin in the reign of Henry III. It was retranslated from this version into Greek at the Renaissance by a Greek resident in Italy."

References

External links