Passage 1.42.5
τοῦ δὲ Ἀπόλλωνος πλίνθου μὲν ἦν ὁ ἀρχαῖος ναός· ὕστερον δὲ βασιλεὺς ᾠκοδόμησεν Ἀδριανὸς λίθου λευκοῦ. ὁ μὲν δὴ Πύθιος καλούμενος καὶ ὁ Δεκατηφόρος τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις μάλιστα ἐοίκασι ξοάνοις, ὃν δὲ Ἀρχηγέτην ἐπονομάζουσιν, Αἰγινητικοῖς ἔργοις ἐστὶν ὅμοιος· ἐβένου δὲ πάντα ὁμοίως πεποίηται. ἤκουσα δὲ ἀνδρὸς Κυπρίου διακρῖναι πόας ἐς ἀνθρώπων ἴασιν εἰδότος, ὃς τὴν ἔβενον φύλλα οὐκ ἔφη φύειν οὐδὲ εἶναι καρπὸν οὐδένα ἀπʼ αὐτῆς οὐδὲ ὁρᾶσθαι τὸ παράπαν αὐτὴν ὑπὸ ἡλίου, ῥίζας δὲ ὑπογαίους εἶναι, ταύτας δὲ ὀρύσσειν τοὺς Αἰθίοπας καὶ ἄνδρας εἶναί σφισιν οἳ τὴν ἔβενον ἴσασιν εὑρίσκειν.
The ancient temple of Apollo was built of brick; later, however, the Emperor Hadrian constructed it in white marble. The statues called Pythian and the Decatephorus are especially similar to Egyptian wooden images; the one they call Archegetes resembles Aeginetan works. All these statues alike are made of ebony wood. I heard from a Cypriot man skilled in distinguishing plants for medicinal use, who said that ebony bears neither leaves nor any fruit, nor is it ever exposed to sunlight; rather, its roots remain underground, and it is these roots that the Ethiopians dig up. They have certain individuals among them who know how to find ebony.