The present species is, however, a close relative of other nightshades cultivated for their fruit, including the tomato ( " S . lycopersicum " ) and the eggplant ( " S . melongena " ), which its own fruit closely resembles.
12.
It is situated in a pleasant country, near the promontory of the high mountain " Libanus ", in a great plain toward the sea-shore, where you may see abundance of vineyards, and very fine gardens, enclosed with hedges for the most part, the hedges consisting chiefly of " Melongena, Sesamum ( by the natives called " samsaim ", the seeds whereof are very much used to strew upon their bread ) and many more; but especially the Colocasia, which is very common there, and sold all the year long . . . . In great plenty there are citrons, lemons and oranges . . . . At Tripoli they have no want of water, for several rivers flow down from the mountains, and run partly through the town, and partly through the gardens, so that they want no water neither in the gardens nor in their houses.
