A mijL^ddliis per s lea , 

 THE PEACH-TREE. 



Si/7ioni/>iics. 



Aviygdaltis persica, 



Persica vulgaris, 



Pecher, 



Plirsichbaum, 



Pesco, 



Persi^o, Durasno, 



Pi'cesiieiro, 



Peach-lree, 



LiNNJEDS, Species Planlarum. 



Dk Candom.e, Prodroinus. 



Don, IMiller's Diclioiiary. 



Loudon, Arboretum Brilannicum. 



Franck. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Spain. 



Portugal. 



Britain, Anglo- America, ice. 



Engrnrings. Dii Hiimel. TraiK; <!e8 Arbrcs et Arbustes, 1,28 ; Noiselle, Jarcliii Fruitier; Hoffy's, Orchardisl's Compaaion ; 

 Loudon, Arboretum Brilannicum, vi., pi. 106; and the figures below. 



Spedfic Characters. Covering of the nut very fleshy and juicy, its surface downy or smooth ; nut with 

 wrinkled furrows. Young leaves folded Uatwise. Flowers almost sessile, solitary or twin, protruded 

 before the leaves. Loudon, Arboretum. 



Descriptioji. 



" And apples, which most barbarous Persia sent, 

 With native poison armed (as fame relates ;) 

 But now tbey 've lost their power to kill, and yield 

 Ambrosian juice, ajiil have forgot to hurl; 

 And of their country still retain the name." 



Columella. 



^t^HE Amygda- 

 lus persica, 

 when grow- 



. . ii(S<^^S ing in a nat- 

 ural state, is rather a small tree, with 

 wide-spreading branches, and assumes 

 the general form and character of the 

 almond; but when cultivated, it some- 

 times attains a height of twenty or 

 thirty feet, with a trunk fifteen to 

 eighteen inches in diameter. Like its 

 oougener, the almond, its flowers appear before the leaves. They are of a very 

 delicate colour, but of scarcely any scent. They usually appear in England 

 early in April ; at St. Mary's, in Georgia, by the middle of February ; at Perth 

 Amboy, in New Jersey, by the end of April, and ten weeks earlier at Naples, in 

 Italy, although the two last-named places are in nearly the same parallels of lat- 

 itude. The fruit is roundish, with a furrow along one side, and is covered with 

 a delicate, downy cuticle, when ripe. 



Varieties. The varieties of the peach are exceedingly numerous, there being 

 several hundred kinds enumerated in nurserymen's catalogues. The nectarine 

 is considered by some botanists as a distinct species; but there can be no doubt 

 on this point, as the peach itself i. nothing more than an improved, or fleshy 

 almond, which bears a similar relation to tlie peach and nectarine, as the crab 

 does to the apple, and the sloe to the plum. To prove that the peach and necta- 

 rine are essentially the same, it may be mentioned that the fruits of both have 

 been found on the same branch ; and even an instance is recorded, where a fruit 

 iiad the smooth surface of the nectarine on one side, and the downy skin of the 



