Chap. 6 (2.) — The Chamæplatanus. Who Was the First to Clip Green Shrubs
For we find in Italy some plane-trees, which are known as chamæplatani,437 in consequence of their stunted growth; for we have discovered the art of causing abortion in trees even, and hence, even in the vegetable world we shall have occasion to make mention of dwarfs, an unprepossessing subject in every case. This result is obtained in trees, by a peculiar method adopted in planting and lopping them. C. Matius,438 a member of the Equestrian order, and a friend of the late Emperor Augustus, invented the art of clipping arbours, within the last eighty years.