356 ICOSANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Primus. 



P. domestica. Linn. Sp. PL 680. mihl v. 2. 995. Fl. Br. 527. 



Engl. Bot. V. 25. ^. 1 783. Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 85. Hook. Scot. 



150. Ger.ETn.l497.f. 

 P. communis (J. Huds. 2\2. 

 P. curvata. Ehrh. Arh. 144. 

 P. n. 1079. Hall. Hist. V. 2. 27. 

 P. sativa. Fuchs. Hist. 403./. 



In woods and hedges, probably escaped from gardens. 



At Twineliam, Sussex^ apparently wild. Mr. Borrer. 



Tree. Mcnj. 



A moderate-sized tree, without tliorns. Leaves elliptic-oblong, 

 copiously serrated, rarely glandular at the base ; hairy when 

 young, especially underneath ; their edges coiled inward in the 

 bud. Siipulus linear, bordered with glands, deciduous. Flower- 

 stalks much shorter than in the Cherry, most frequently in pairs. 

 Fl. snow-white. Fruit rather oblong, seldom quite globular, 

 its colour and flavour very variable. The specimen sent by 

 Mr. Borrer was almost round, dark purple, with a blue efflo- 

 rescence. Mrs. Evelyn has communicated to Mr. Lambert, from 

 Kent, flowering specimens of "a wild yellow plum, excellent 

 for making jelly only," known to the London confectioners. 

 These specimens approach Ehrhart's P. curvata ; but the 

 branches are more downy, and we know nothing of his fruit. 

 Whether all our cultivated Plums may formerly have originated 

 from the P. insititia hereafter described, its thorns having dis- 

 appeared by culture, like those of the Pear-tree, is a question 

 which no botanist perhaps can ever solve. As to its varieties, 

 Gerarde declares that " to write of Plums particularly would re- 

 quire a peculiar volume, and yet the end not be attained unto, 

 nor the stock or kindred perfectly known, neither to be distin- 

 guished apart." He adds that each country has an abundance of 

 its own peculiar varieties. Hence I conceive it scarcely possible 

 to meet with the P. domestica in a perfectly natural state. 



4. P. insititia. Wild Bullace-tree. 



Flower-stalks in pairs. Leaves lanceolate-ovate; convo- 

 lute while young; downy beneath. Branches thorny at 

 the end. 



P. insititia. Linn. Sp. PL 680. ff^illd. v. 2. 996. Fl. Br. 528. Engl. 



Bot. V. 12. f. 841. Hook. Scot. 150. 

 P. n. 1081. HalLHisL r. 2. 28. 



P. sylvestris major. Raii Syn. 462. Diiham. Arb. v. 2. 184. t. 41 , 

 /3. P. sylvestris, fructu majore albo. Raii Syn. 462. 

 y. P. sylvestris, fructu rubro, acerbo et ingrato. Raii Syn. 463. 



In hedges and groves. 



Tree. April. 



A small tree, with irregularly spreading, round branches, each 



