AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
\ 
OF HORTICULTURE. 235 
Pruning Knives, &c.—continued. 
turning, and for cutting circular holes in boards; they 
are carried very narrow at the point, and may be intro- 
duced to cut off one branch without injuring another. 
PRUNOPSIS LINDLEYI. A synonym of Prunus 
triloba (which see). 
PRUNUS (the ancient Latin name of the Plum). 
Plum. ORD. Rosacee. This genus, as arranged, by Ben- 
tham and Hooker, in the “ Genera Plantarum,” includes 
Amygdalopsis, Amygdalus, Armeniaca, Ceraseidos, Cera- 
sus, Laurocerasus, and Persica (making a total of about 
eighty species); but, for horticultural purposes, it is, in 
most cases, deemed: proper to treat these genera sepa- 
rately in this work. The species are evergreen or 
deciduous, hardy trees or shrubs, mostly natives of the 
temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere, some 
being found in tropical America, and rarely in tropical 
Asia. Flowers white or pink, solitary, corymbosely fas- 
ciculate, or disposed in racemes; calyx deciduous; tube 
obconical, urceolate, or tubulose; limb of five imbricated 
lobes; petals five, inserted at the mouth of the calyx; 
stamens fifteen to twenty, inserted with the petals. 
Fruit a fleshy, often edible drupe, containing a smooth or 
rugose, indehiscent or two-valved, one-seeded stone. 
Leaves alternate, simple, frequently serrulated, compli- 
cate or convolute in vernation. The species may be pro- 
pagated by seeds, which should be stratified in autumn, 
and sown in the following spring. They may also, with 
the varieties, be readily increased by budding and graft- 
ing. P. cerasifera is well adapted for planting to form 
hedges; the use of the Blackthorn or Sloe, P. spinosa, 
is also well known for this purpose. P. divaricata, in- 
variably one of the earliest-flowering shrubs or small 
trees, is exceedingly ornamental, when the flowers escape 
destruction by spring frosts. P. Pissardii has dark 
foliage, which is effective when associated with light- 
coloured or yellow-leaved shrubs. The double-flowered 
form of P. sinensis may be grown in pots, and used 
effectively for greenhouse decoration. It may readily 
be propagated, in spring, from cuttings of tolerably firm 
shoots ; and when plants are established, and their wood 
well ripened, they force well. P. triloba may also be 
grown in pots, but the best position for this species is- 
$ 
against a wall with a south or west aspect. For culture 
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Prunus—continued. 
and varieties of the common Plum, see Plum, where will 
be found further information applicable to the propa- 
gation and cultivation of other species of Prunus. All 
the species described below are hardy, deciduous trees 
or shrubs, except where otherwise stated. 
Fig. 301. FLOWERING BRANCH OF PRUNUS PENNSYLVANICA. 
A ericana (American American Wild Yellow or Red 
ree fl. whet — oe or several, in simple, umbel-like 
clusters, April. jr. yellow, orange, or red, }in. to ŝin., or in 
cultivated states lin. or more, in diameter, of a pleasant flavour, 
but with a tough and acerb skin. l. ovate or somewhat obovate, 
conspicuously pointed, coarsely or doubly serrated, glabrous 
when mature. h. 8ft. to 20ft. North America. Syn. P. nigra 
(B. M. 1117). 
i i . large, white, appear- 
EF P. biferum (twice-bearing). fi. large — Pr — 
; skin smooth, gloss 
— to both ends. 
A vi us-growing tree, of garden origin. For its 
peculiarity in bearing flowers and fruit at the same 
time, this curious Plum is worth growing. (R. H. 
P. 
3 
cerasifera (Cherry-bearing).* Cherry or Myro- 
balan Plum. a white, nearly solitary, or fascicled 
on short branches, pedunculate; calyx lobes re- 
; petals — — or orbicular. April. 
Jr. red, globose, with yellow fiesh and an ovoid, acute 
stone. l. elliptic-obovate, acute. serrulated, glabrous 
beneath. Branches unarmed ; branchlets PEN gla- 
brous. Native country uncertain. (B. M. ») 
P. Cerasus Bigarella (Bigarella). A synonym of 
Cerasus duracina. 
P. —— (Chapron’s), fr. shining red, dotted 
with white, of 
an agreeable acid flavour, depressed 
globose, about 14in. in diameter. l. elliptic, acute, 
serrulate. 1883. A small, bushy tree, of unknown 
origin, See Fig. 300. (R. H. 1881, 467.) 
P. dasycarpa (thick-fruited.) This is the correct 
name of the plant described in this work as Ar- 
menide 
, divaricata (spreading).* A. white, jin. in dia- 
—— solitary 3 calyx lobes recurved ; petals rounded, 
concave. April. fr. gom —— —— 
lobose. l. contemporary wi e flowers, 
scons more ovate aad often. — at base, 
: es 
