The Nux is a rich and compelling poem that has not received the critical attention it deserves. Once almost universally regarded as the work of Ovid, it is now considered spurious, but the question of authorship has dominated discussion.1 There has been scant interest in understanding its meaning. Composed in elegiac couplets, the Nux consists of a monologue delivered by a nut tree, complaining that it is hit with stones by passers-by and a rod by its farmer, men who are intent on harvesting its produce. The tree laments that it has brought violence on itself through its fertility. Frequent comparisons are drawn between plant and human form and behaviour, reflecting a shared language of plants and people that is well established in Greek and Roman literature.