Across the Euphrates, in Northern Syria, the country is less suited for
grain crops; but trees and shrubs of all kinds grow luxuriantly, the
pasture is excellent, and much of the land is well adapted for the
growth of cotton. The Assyrian kings cut timber frequently in this
tract; and here are found at the present day enormous planes, thick
forests of oak, pine, and ilex, walnuts, willows, poplars, ash-trees,
birches, larches, and the carob or locust tree. Among wild shrubs are
the oleander with its ruddy blossoms, the myrtle, the bay, the arbutus,
the clematis, the juniper, and the honeysuckle; among cultivated
fruit-trees, the orange, the pomegranate, the pistachio-nut, the
vine, the mulberry, and the olive. The adis, an excellent pea, and the
Lycoperdon, or wild potato, grow in the neighborhood of Aleppo. The
castor-oil plant is cultivated in the plain of Edlib. Melons, cucumbers,
and most of the ordinary vegetables are produced in abundance and of
good quality everywhere.

In Southern Syria and Palestine most of the same forms of vegetation
occur, with several others of quite a new character. These are due
either to the change of latitude, or to the tropical heat of the
Jordan and Dead Sea valley, or finally to the high elevation of Hermon,
Lebanon, and Anti-Lebanon. The date-palm fringes the Syrian shore as
high as Beyrut, and formerly flourished in the Jordan valley, where,
however, it is not now seen, except in a few dwarfed specimens near the
Tiberias lake. The banana accompanies the date along the coast, and
even grows as far north as Tripoli. The prickly pear, introduced from
America, has completely neutralized itself, and is in general request
for hedging. The fig mulberry (or true sycamore), another southern form,
is also common, and grows to a considerable size. Other denizens of
warm climes, unknown in Northern Syria, are the jujube, the tamarisk,