Theophrastus. Causes of Plants

ByОлена Коновалова
Theophrastus. “Causes of Plants” (Lat. “De causis plantarum”)

     The second botanical work of Theophrastus – “Causes of Plants” (or “On the Causes of Plants” or, more accurately in meaning, – “On the Vital Phenomena in Plants”) – represents a kind of processing of the same factual material discussed in “History of Plants”, but from a different perspective – in content, it is theoretical and applied plant physiology.     The entire work consists of 6 books and begins with a description of the ways in which plants originate, reproduce, and grow.

Theophrastus allows for the spontaneous generation of plants, as was accepted both before and many centuries after him.
“Those plants which are smaller and primarily annual and herbaceous,” he says, “spontaneously generate” (book 1, chapter V). Allowing for this method as primary, Theophrastus, nevertheless, considers the reproduction of plants by seeds and other parts to be the most ordinary and widespread (normal). He thoroughly examines the influence of external conditions (heat, cold, winds, and soil) on plants, primarily trees, and the changes that plants undergo both under the influence of external factors and as a result of cultivation in culture.

He then discusses the cultivation of various plants, starting with trees and ending with cereal grains and vegetables, elaborating on the reproduction of plants by seeds, grafting, budding, and other applied questions of horticulture and agriculture.

A whole book (the 5th) is dedicated to abnormal phenomena in the life of plants, with interesting chapters on diseases, natural and artificial death of plants.

The last (sixth) book deals with the taste and smell of plants.

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