508 ORD. XXVI. Pomacee. amyYcpALus comMUNIS. 
Sp. Ch. A. foliis sezraturis infimis glandulosis, floribus sessilibus 
geminis. 
THIS tree divides into many branches, covered with a dark grey 
bark, and usually rises from twelve to sixteen feet in height: the 
leaves are elliptical, narrow, pointed at each end, minutely:ser- 
rated, Veined, of a bright green colour, beset with small glands 
towards the base, and stand upon short footstalks: the flowers are 
large, of a pale red colour, without peduncles, commonly placed 
in numerous pairs upon the branches, and appear before the 
leaves: the calyx is tubular, and divided at the brim into five 
blunt segments of a reddish colour: the coralla consists of five oval 
convex petals, with narrow claws: the filaments are about thirty, 
spreading, tapering, of unequal length, and ofa reddish colour, 
inserted into the calyx, and furnished with simple antherz: the 
germen is roundish and downy: the style is short, simple, and 
_ crowned with a round stigma: the fruit is of the peach kind, the 
outer substance of which is hard, tough, hairy, and marked with 
a longitudinal furrow where it opens; under this is a thick rough 
shell, which contains the kernel or almond. This tree is a native 
of Barbary,* and flowers in March and April. 
The Almond-tree seems to have been known in the remotest 
times of antiquity, being frequently mentioned by Theophrastus 
and Hippocrates: it is probable however that this tree was not 
very common in Italy, in the time of Cato, as he calls the fruit by 
the name of Greek nuts.® It was cultivated in England by Lobel 
previous to the year 1570,° and though it does not perfect its fruit 
in this country, yet it is here very generally propagated for the 
beautiful appearance of its flowers, which are the more con- 
spicuous by showing themselves early in spring before the leaves 
are expanded. : , 
The fruit or seeds of most vegetables on being planted produce 
varieties, differing more or less from the parent plant and from 
* Particularly in the hedges about Tripoli. See Bauh. @. c. 
* See Pliny, Lib, 15, cap. 22.  * Vide'Hort. Kew. 
