Primus armeiiiaca, 

 THE COMMON APRICOT-TREE. 



Synonymes. 



Prunus arvieniaca, 



Armeniaca vulgaris, 



Abricotier, 



Aprikosenbaum, 



Albicocco, Albercocco, 



Armellini, Pesco americano, 



Miliaco, 



Albaricoquero, Albaricocal, 



Apricot, 



LiNNJEus, Species Plantarum. 

 De Candolle, Prodromus. 

 Don, Miller's Dictionary. 

 Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 

 France. 

 Germany. 



Italy. 



Spain 



Britain and Anglo- America. 



Derivations. The specific name, armeniaca, is derived from Armenia, the country from which this tree was supposed ori^- 

 nally to have been brought to Europe. The popular English name, Apricot, was originally prtzcoda, and was supposed by some 

 to have been derived from pracox. early or precocious, from its fruit ripening- sooner than most others. Some derive it from 

 the Arabic berkoche ; whence the Spanish and Italian names. 



Engravings. Du Hamel, TraitS des Arbres et Arbustes, i., p. 49; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., figs. 398, 399, et 

 vi., pi. 107 ; and the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Flowers sessile. Leaves heart-shaped or ovate. De Candolle, Prodromus. 



Descriptio7i. 



HE Common Apricot, in 

 ^ favourable situations, 

 usually attains a height 

 "^^^ of twenty or thirty feet, 

 with a handsome, spreading, somewhat orbicular 

 head. The branches are furnished with numer- 

 ous buds, and are clothed with large, heart- 

 shaped, smooth, shining leaves. The flowers, 

 which are white, put forth before the leaves, and 

 are very ornamental, especially at a season when 

 but few other trees are in bloom. They usually make their appearance at 

 Naples, in Italy, and at Augusta, in Georgia, by the 20th of February ; in Eng- 

 land, by the first of April, and nearly a month later at New York. The nut or 

 stone of the fruit is fleshy, juicy, with its surface downy, obtuse at one end, 

 acute at the other, and furrowed at both lateral edges, but the other parts are 

 even. 



Varieties. There are two forms of this kind of apricot, either of which may 

 be considered as the species, and two varieties : 



1. P. A. ovALiFOLiA. Ovcil-leavecL Ajyricot-tree^ the leaves of which are oval, and 

 the fruit small. 



2. P. A. coRDiFOLiA. Heart-sliapcd-leaved Apricot-tree, with broad, heart-shaped 

 leaves, and large fruit. 



3. P. A. FOLiis VARiEGATis. Vuriegated-leaved Apricot-tree. 



4. P. A. FLORE PLENo. Doiible-Jloioered Apricot-tree. It is said that the Chinese 

 have a great number of double-flowered varieties of this tree, which they plant 

 on little mounts for ornament, and dwarfs in pots, for their apartments. 



Geography and History. The Prunus armeniaca is indigenous to Armenia, 

 Caucasus, the Himalayas, China, and Japan. From its trivial name, it is gene- 



