Abstract
PROF. GUSTAV SENN, of Basle, has published a short but interesting note on this subject (Verh. Schweiz. Naturforschende Gesellschaft, Solothurn, p.372; 1936). Theophrastus mentions, in his “Historia Plantarum”, no less than ten species of oak-galls. Some are well known and unmistakable, such as the common Turkey or Aleppo gall; and one, or the insect which produces it, Andricus Theophrasteus, bears the old Greek's name. But no one seems ever to have studied the Theophrastean account as a whole, and even Sir Arthur Hort made no attempt to identify the several species. Prof. Senn finds little difficulty in doing so, and the result is a remarkable testimony to Theophrastus's diagnostic skill.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
T., D. Oak-galls in Theophrastus. Nature 139, 684 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139684a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139684a0