60 AMYGDALE^. [part i. 



a little point called a mucro. There are about 

 twenty stamens about the same length as the 

 petals arising from the calyx, and five roundish 

 carpels containing one seed each. The leaves 

 are simple, and the stipules awl-shaped. Till 

 lately only a double-flowered variety was known 

 in Britain; but about 1832, the single-flowered 

 plant was introduced from China. Corchorus, 

 the genus in which this plant was originally 

 placed, is nearly allied to the lime-tree. 



TRIBE IV.— AMYGDALEiE. 



This tribe is distinguished by the fruit, which 

 IS what botanists call a drupe, that is, a stone 

 fruit. The principal genera included in this 

 tribe are Amygdalus^ the Almond ; Persica, the 

 Peach and Nectarine ; Anneniaca, the Apricot; 

 Primus^ the Plum: and Cerasus, the Cherry. 

 All these genera contain more or less of prussic 

 acid, which is found to exist principally in the 

 leaves and kernels ; and they all yield gum when 

 wounded. 



The flowers of the common Almond {Amyg- 

 dalus communis) appear, as is well known, before 

 the leaves, bursting from large scaly buds, which 

 when they open throw off the brown shining 

 bracts in which they had been enwrapped. The 

 calyx is somewhat campanulate, wdth the upper 



