This is a medium-sized evergreen tree up to 20 m (c.65 ft) high. The simple oval leaves are quite leathery and clustered towards the tips of the slender twigs. Among the leaves appear brown-covered flower buds and inconspicuous yellowish flowers. The yellow fruits are about the size of a pigeon’s egg and contain two shiny hard seeds. As they are never available these days, I have not tasted any, which is a pity since Theophrastus the Greek botanist claimed that they were ‘sweet and luscious’, and easily digested in any quantity. Judging by their frequency in Egyptian graves they were popular
Mandrake Mandragora officinarum fruits being picked by the pharaoh's daughter. This scene is depicted on the ivory casket shown in pl 4.
Fruits. The difficulty in deciding whether the representations on murals and ornamentals are of persea or mandrake is discussed under ‘mandrake’.
Since this species of persea naturally inhabits the hills of Ethiopia it must have been cultivated in Egypt, as its leaves have been found in other tombs and only fresh ones could have been folded for stitching into the garlands. It is surprising to know that a jar of honey from another tomb contains persea pollen as one of the two principal species (see p 50). These trees grow well in Cairo and it is unfortunate that those planted by Professor Schweinfurth beside the Cairo Museum have been removed in recent years.
Flowering and fruiting persea shoots Mimusops iaurifoiia.
World History
