6 Bulletin 62. 



ducts, definitely referred these plums to Prjcnus triflo7'a of Rox- 

 burgh, in an article in America7i Garden. It now remained to con- 

 sult the dried botanical specimens which Roxburgh left of his spe- 

 cies. The accompanying illustration shows the specimens in the 

 Kew Herbarium, England, part of which appear to be from Rox- 

 burgh himself ; and the others are from the Ava Hills of north- 

 western India, probably from cultivated -plants, collected by N.C. 

 Royle. Upon these specimens nearly all our knowledge oi Prunus 

 triflora seems to rest. I am not able to say which of the specimens 

 in the illustration were collected by Roxburgh, but all are essentially 

 alike, and I have no hesitation in sajdng that our cultivated Jap- 

 anese plums are the same.* The types in cultivation vary much 



*The synonymy of these plums will therefore stand as follows : 

 Prunus triflora, Roxburgh, Hort. Bengal. 38 (1814). 

 P. trifolia, Fl. Indica, ii. 501 (1824). 

 P. Hattan, Tamari Mss ; Bailey, Annals Hort. 1889, 30, and Amer. Gard. 



xii. 74 (1891). 

 Prunus Japonica, of horticulturists. 

 The following is Roxburgh's description of the species in his Flora of 

 India, p. 501. In this work the plant is called Prunus trifolia, probably 

 through inadvertence. 



"Unarmed. Peduncles tern. Leaves oblong, very finely gland-serrate, 

 smooth, in the bud equitant. Drupes cordate. 

 "Chin. Hong-sum-li. 



"This elegant very ramous bushy shrub has been received from China, 

 into our gardens in Bengal, where it blossoms in February, immediately 

 after which the luxurious foliage expands, and the fruit, which is about the 

 size of the common plum, and nearly as palatable, ripens in May and June. 

 "Trunk in our young cultivated trees, or rather shrubs, very short, soon 

 dividing into numerous branches and branchlets in all directions from 

 diverging to erect. Bark on all smooth. Leaves alternate, in the bud 

 equitant, petioled, recurved, oblong, tapering equally at each end, very 

 finely gland-serrate, considerably acuminate, smooth, from two to four inches 

 long, and from one to two broad, in Bengal deciduous about the close of the 

 year. Stipules from the base of the petioles, ensiform, gland-ciliate. Flow- 

 ers very numerous, rather small and white, short peduncled, regularly three 

 from each bud, and there are generally two of those buds in each of the old 

 axills, with a leaf-bearing one in the center. Bractes, the scales of the bud, 

 cordate, scariose, and nearly caducous. Calyx, segments five, oblong ; mar- 

 gins glandular. Petals oval, short-clawed, the length of the peduncles. 

 Filaments about thirty, shorter than the petals. Germ ovate, one celled, 

 containing two ovula attached to the same side of the cell. Style the length 



