# Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν 4.3.6

Theophrastus, Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν, Book 4, Chapter 3. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/theophrastus/text-2/4.3.6

περὶ οὗ δὴ καὶ ἀντιλέγουσί τινες. ἐκκαυλεῖν γάρ φασι τὰ ἀσθενέστερα μᾶλλον ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν λαχάνων. αἴτιον δὲ ὅτι εὐπαθέστερά τε καὶ ἐλάττω τροφὴν ἔχοντα τελειοῖ τὸ δὲ ἐκκαυλεῖν ὥσπερ τελέωσις, δι᾽ ὃ καὶ τῶν δένδρων τὰ πρεσβύτερα θᾶττον πέττει καὶ μᾶλλον τοὺς καρποὺς, τὰ δὲ ἐν ἀκμῇ πλείους μὲν καὶ καλλίους ἔχει βραδύτερον δέ. φαίνεται δ᾽ οὖν εἰ τοῦτο ἀληθὲς ὅτι ταχυγονώτερα τὰ παλαιότερα. μεμίχθαι γάρ τις ἐν τοῖς σπέρμασι δοκεῖ οἷον ὕλη καὶ τροφὴ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἣν δεῖ προκατειργάσθαι πρότερον ἢ εἰς τὴν βλάστησιν ἐλθεῖν.

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Theophrastus, Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν, ed. Friedrich Wimmer. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0093.tlg002.local001/.