For the source text click/tap here: Sukkah 34
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Our Mishna chooses to arrange the arba minim in the following order: first the lulav, then the hadas, the arava and finally the etrog. This order is puzzling, as we might have expected that the Mishna would follow the order in which the arba minim are listed in the Torah: "And you shall take you on the first day fruit of a goodly tree, branches of palm-trees, a bough of thick trees, and willows of a brook..." (Vayikra 23:40). The Torah opens with the etrog, and from there on the order is similar to the order found in the mishna: lulav, hadas and arava.
Furthermore without the Oral Law, we would be unable to figure out exactly which four species we are to take. There are many fruits that are quite beautiful, and it is unlikely that many would, on their own, identify pri etz hadar as an etrog. Surely a hadas is not the only plaited tree, and there are many types of willow trees.
We explore the use of the four species as a iconographic motif on coins and in mosaics, as far back as the bar Kochbar revolt.