83 



ceous fruit, an exalbuminous suspended seed, and alternate stipulate simple 

 leaves yielding hydrocyanic acid. 

 Anomalies. 



Essential Chabacteb. — Calyx 5-toothed, deciduous, lined with a disk ; the fifth lobe next 

 the axis. Petals 5, perigynous. Stamens 20, or thereabouts, arising from the throat of the 

 calyx, in aestivation curved inwards ; anthers innate, 2-celled, bursting longitudinally. Orary 

 superior, solitary,simple,l-celled ; ovula 2, suspended ; styles terminal, with a furrow on one side, 

 terminating in a reniform stigma. Fruit a drupe, with the putamen sometimes separating 

 spontaneously from thesarcocarp. Seeds mostly solitary, suspended, in consequence of the cohe- 

 sion of a funiculus umbilicalis, arising from the base of the cavity of the ovarium, with its 

 side. Embryo straight, with the radicle pointing to the hilum ; cotyledons thick ; albumen 

 none. — Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, usually glandular towards the base: sti- 

 pules simple, mostly glandular. Flowers white or pink. Hydrocyanic acid present in the 

 leaves and kernel. 



Affinities. Distinguished from Rosaceae and Pomacese by their fruit be- 

 ing a drupe, their bark yielding gum, and by the presence of hydrocyanic 

 acid ; from Leguminosae by the latter character, and also by their regular pe- 

 tals and stamens, and especially by the odd segment of the 5-lobed calyx of 

 that order being inferior, not superior ; from Chrysobalanea? by their hydrocy- 

 anic acid, terminal styles, and regular petals and stamens. I have seen a 

 monstrous Plum with an indefinite number of ovaria arising irregularly from the 

 tube of the calyx, and therefore exhibiting a tendency, on the part of this 

 order, to assume one of the distinguishing characters of Rosacea?. 



Geography. Natives exclusively of the northern hemisphere, where they 

 are found in cold or temperate climates. One species, Cerasus occidentalis, is a 

 native of the West Indies ; a kind of Almond, Amygdalus microphylla, inha- 

 bits hot arid plains in Mexico : and another, A. cochinchinensis, is reputed to 

 grow in the woods of Cochinchina. 



Properties. The astringent febrifugal properties of Rosacea?, with which 

 order these are usually combined, are also found in Amygdalea? ; as in the bark 

 of Cerasus virginiana, which is prescribed in the United States, and of the C. 

 capollim of Mexico. They are, however, better known for yielding an abun- 

 dance of prussic, or hydrocyanic, acid, a deadly principle residing in the leaves 

 and kernel ; in consequence of which some of the species are poisonous to cat- 

 tle which feed upon them : as, for example, the Cerasus capricida, which kills 

 the goats of Nipal ; and the C. virginiana, which is known in North America 

 to be dangerous. [The leaves of C. caroliniana are highly poisonous, and fre- 

 quently destroy cattle that feed on them.] They all of them, also, yield a gum 

 analogous to gum tragacanth. Notwithstanding, however, the poisonous prin- 

 ciple that is present in them, their fruit is, in many cases, a favourite food ; that 

 of the Amygdalus (peach and nectarine), Prunus (plum and apricot), and Ce- 

 rasus (cherry), are among the most delicious with which we are acquainted ; 

 the seed of Amygdalus is familiar to us under the name of almonds, and its 

 oil under the name of oil of almonds. The bark of the root of Cerasus capol- 

 lim is used in Mexico against dysentery. Dec. The leaves of Prunus spinosa ■ 

 (sloe), and Cerasus avium (wild cherry), have been employed as a substitute 

 for tea. Ibid. The former are well known to afford one of the means used in 

 Europe for adulterating the black tea of China. Prunus domestica, or the com- 

 mon plum, yields those fruits sold in the shops under the name of prunes, which 

 are chiefly prepared in France, from the varieties called the St. Catherine and 

 the green-gage ; and in Portugal from a sort which derives its name from the 

 village of Guimaraens, where they are principally dried. They contain so 

 large a quantity of sugar, that brandy is distilled from them when fermented, 

 and it has even been proposed to manufacture sugar from them. A. R. The 

 kernel of Prunus brigantiaca yields a fixed oil, called Huih des Marmottes 

 which is used instead of olive or almond oil. Ibid. The bark of Prunus spi- 



