688 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III 
Spec. Char., §c. Branches spineless. Flowers mostly solitary. Leaves lan- 
ceolate-ovate, concave on the surface, not flat, Spontaneous in elevated 
places of the more southern parts of Europe. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 533.) In 
England, found sometimes in hedges, but never truly wild. A tree, from 
15 ft. to 20 ft. in height, resembling the common sloe, but larger in all its 
parts, and without thorns. There are numerous varieties and subvarieties ; 
but, as they belong more to pomology than to arboriculture, we shall here 
only notice those that have some pretensions to distinctness in an orna- 
mental point of view. 
* P. d. 2 flore pléno Hort. The double-blossomed Plum.— The flowers 
are large and handsome; but, if the plants are not carefully supplied 
with abundance of nourishment, they very readily degenerate into 
semidouble, or single ones. 
* P.d. 3 foliis variegitis Hort. The variegated-leaved Plum.— There 
are few of the variegated-leaved Rosdicez of any beauty; and this 
plant forms no exception to the general remark. 
* P.d.4 myrobalana Lin. Sp., 680. P. Myrébalan Du Ham. Arb., ii. p.111. 
t. 2. f.15.; P.mirobalana Lois.; P.cerasifera Hhrh. Beitr., 4. p. 17.5 
Prunier myrobalan, or Cerisette, Fr.; Kirschpflaume, Ger. The 
Myrobalan, or Cherry, Plum. (See our plate in Vol. II.) — Sepals 
narrow. Fruit globose, depressed at the base; umbilicus depressed ; 
nut with a small point. (Dec. Prod.,ii. p.533.) This sort well deserves 
culture as an ornamentai tree, on account of its very early flow- 
ering. In England, it seldom produces fruit, as the blossoms, 
being more tender than those of the sloe, and appearing earlier 
than those of the fruit-bearing varieties, are generally injured by 
the frost. It is by some supposed to be a native of North Ameri- 
ca; but, according to Pursh, it is only found in that country near 
houses. 
* P.d. 5m. foliis variegatis N. Du Ham. The variegated-leaved Myro- 
balan, or Cherry, Plum. 
¥ P.d. 6 armenioides Ser. The Apricot-like Plum, or Drap d’Or.— The 
leaves, the fruit, and the general habit of the plant bear some re- 
semblance to those of Armeniaca brigantiaca. 
Description, History, §c. The myrobalan plum tree appears to be the 
first remove from Prunus insititia; and the apricot-like plum seems interme- 
diate between the wild plum and the wild apricot. The varieties cultivated 
for their fruit have, in general, much larger leaves, and stronger young shoots, 
than the other sorts; they flower later, their blossoms are larger, and their 
fruit, particularly such sorts as the magnum bonum and the diamond plum, 
several times as large; the latter being upwards of 2$in. long. These fruit- 
bearing varieties are in universal cultivation in temperate climates; and for 
every thing of interest relating to them, as such, we refer to our Eneyclo- 
peda of Gardening, edit. 1835, p.920. Those varieties which deserve cul- 
ture as ornamental trees are considered, by Mr. Thompson of the Horticul- 
tural Society’s Garden, to be, the red magnum bonum, which has a fastigiate 
habit of growth; the Washington, which is a vigorous-growing tree, with a 
pyramidal head, and is a great bearer of fruit of excellent quality; and the 
wheat plum, which deserves a place in ornamental plantations for its bright 
fiery red-coloured fruit. The wood of the plum tree is hard, close, com- 
pact, beautifully veined, and susceptible of a fine polish. It weighs, when dry, 
55 1b. 14.02. to the cubic foot. Its colour is brought out by washing it with 
lime-water, and it is preserved by the application of wax as a varnish. In 
France and Germany, it is much sought after by cabinetmakers and turners, and 
also by musical instrument makers. The leaves are eaten by cattle; but both 
the leaves and the flowers are extremely liable to be attacked by insects, more 
especially in spring, from the hatching of the eggs which had been deposited 
in the buds, or on the bark, during the preceding season. 
Properties and Uses, The use of the fruit in domestic economy, in Britain 

