This paper joins a number of historical pieces of information concerning two species of Asiatic origin, sebesten and sumac, whose fruits are mentioned among the goods brought to Barcelona from Syria during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the case of the sebesten, we are in front of a tree native of India (Cordia myxa L.), whose edible fruits were employed to make a birdlime employed to catch birds. As for the sumach (Rhus coriaria L.), the fruits of this shrub were uses traditionally to tan the leather. The information here offered has been taken from Grecolatin, Andalusian and later authors.
Full text: Sebestén y Zumaque
In: Anuario de Estudios Medievales, Vol 31, No 2, pp. 867-881. –Colección Artículos post-print (EEA)
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