ROSACEA. TF 
Look then from trivial up to greater woes, 
From the poor bird-boy with his roasted Sloes, 
To where the dungeoned mourner heaves the sigh, 
Where not one cheering sunbeam meets his eye. 
Though ineffectual pity thine may be, 
No wealth, no power to set the captive free, 
Thy slights can make the wretched more forlorn, 
And deeper drive affection’s barbéd thorn. 
Say not, ‘Pll come and cheer thy gloomy cell 
With news of dearest friends, how good, how well ; 
I'll be a joyful herald to thine heart, 
Then fail, and play the worthless trifler’s part.” 
Sup-Specres I..—Prunus insititia. Zinn. 
Puate CCCCIX. 
P. communis, 3 insititia, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 91. Benth. Handbook Brit. 
Fl. p. 185. Hook. & Arn. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 118. 
A large shrub with nearly straight branches, only a few of the 
old ones terminating in spines, the younger ones downy. Leaves 
oblong-obovate or obovate, pubescent beneath. Peduncles mostly 
in pairs, downy. Flowers expanding as the leaves begin to appear. 
Petals roundish. Fruit large, globular, drooping. 
In thickets, woods, and hedges; not uncommon in England, 
more rare in Scotland, and probably not wild north of the Forth 
and Clyde. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Shrub. Spring. 
Very like the common sloe, which appears to pass into it by 
insensible gradations. The present sub-species, however, is gene- 
rally of larger growth, with the leaves and flowers considerably 
larger; the former broader with the broadest part generally beyond 
the middle, and the underside remaining pubescent; the latter 
# inch in diameter. The peduncles are not so often solitary, but in 
both forms they vary from 1 to 3 or 4. The petals are broader, the 
fruit much larger—# inch or more, and drooping from its weight, 
bluish-black, rarely yellow ; it has not the austere taste of the sloe. 
Bullace. 
French, Prunier Sauvage. German, Haferschlehe. 
When in blossom, this tree can hardly be distinguished from the Blackthorn, and 
the fruit is very similar, having the same acid qualities, but not so rough, and when 
boiled with sugar it is by no means unpleasant. A variety yields white fruit, so that 
we have the white and the black Bullace. The fruit of this plum is known in Dau- 
phiné under the name of a/fatores, and in Provence they are called sibarelles, because 
it is impossible to whistle after having eaten them, from their sourness. The wood, 
the branches, and the entire plant are used throughout France for the same purposes 
as that of the Sloe. 
