THE ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND, 175 
CHAPTER: 1X, 
ODOUR OF BITTER ALMOND.—CHERRY LAUREL,— 
HELIOTROPE. 
Tue Opour or Birrer ALMonpD. 
Tue tree producing bitter almonds (Amygdalus communis, L., 
var. amara, DC.) is not distinguished by any botanical character 
or habit of growth from the tree which produces the sweet 
almond. Both the bitter and sweet almond form trees 20 to 30 
feet in height. The leaves resemble those of the peach, but the 
lower serratures are glandular, which has given rise to the con- 
jecture that glandular-leaved peaches have sprung more imme- 
diately from the almond than such as are without glands, as is 
generally the case with nectarines. Their flowers vary in colour 
from a fine blush to snow-white. The chief distinction is in the 
fruit, which is flatter, with a coriaceous dry covering instead of 
the rich pulp of the peach and nectarine, opening spontaneously 
when the kernel is ripe. The peach and the almond have been 
crossed by dusting the stigma of an almond with the pollen of a 
peach*, 
The almond is propagated like the peach, by seed for varieties 
or stocks, and by budding on its own or on a plum stock for con- 
tinuing varieties, Plum stocks are preferred for strong moist 
soils, and peach and almond stocks for dry situations. Light, 
sandy soil seems most suitable to the tree. 
The almond-tree bears chiefly on the young wood of the pre- 
vious year, like the apricot and peach, and in part upon small 
spurs on the two-year old, and three-year old and older branches ; 
it should therefore be pruned like these trees, 
There are two varieties of bitter almond, one with a hard brittle 
shell to the nuts, and one with a tender shell. 
* Hort. Trans, iii. p. 41, tab. i, 
