Fraxinus ornus
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Fraxinus ornus
The Manna ash
Family: Oleaceae
Family: Oleaceae
Nec uero terrae ferre
omnes omnia possunt.
Fluminibus salices crassisque paludibus alni
nascuntur, steriles saxosis montibus orni
Nor do all lands carry all kinds of plants.
Willows grow by rivers, and alders in dank marshes
and the barren manna ash on rocky hills
Georgics II, 109-111
Fluminibus salices crassisque paludibus alni
nascuntur, steriles saxosis montibus orni
Nor do all lands carry all kinds of plants.
Willows grow by rivers, and alders in dank marshes
and the barren manna ash on rocky hills
In this passage from the second book of Georgics, Virgil shows us how every single plant needs, for its growth. a different type of acreage. In particular the manna ash, as the author says, grows on “rocky hills”. Indeed, this plant , hailing from southern Europe, can reach up to 1500 metres on the sea level, adapting itself to arid and rocky situations too.
