THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PRUNUS. 781 



are several named varieties in cultivation : 

 Aiiiara (Bitter Almond) — flowers slightly 

 larger than those of the common Almond, 

 petals almost white towards the tips, deepening 

 into rose at the base. Dulcis (Sweet Almond) — 

 This has leaves of a grey-green colour, and is 

 one of the earliest to flower. Macrocarpa — 

 This is a strong-growing tree with larger, 

 broader leaves than the type ; the flowers too, 

 which are rose-tinted white, are larger. This 

 tree is hardy and vigorous in our country. 

 There are also double-flowered and pendulous 

 varieties cultivated under names denoting these 

 characters, and pretty dwarf forms, pink and 

 white, known as nanus, and charming in the 

 rock-garden. Syn. Ainygdalus covivmnis. 



P. ANGUSTIFOLIA (Chickasaw Plum). — In 

 Britain this is a shrub 4 to 6 feet high, but in 

 America it is a small tree 20 to 25 feet high ; 

 the leaves 3 inches long ; flowers in clusters of 

 one or two pairs, white, sometimes with a 

 creamy tint, one-third of an inch in diameter. 

 Several excellent varieties of this Plum are 

 grown in the United States for their bright red 

 fruits, and there are variegated forms cultivated 

 in Europe. P. Watsoni (Sand Plum) is a 

 form of this, reaching about 6 ft. in height, 

 with twiggy, much-spined branches and abun- 

 dant sweet white flowers in May. The orange- 

 coloured fruits are small, but much valued in 

 the western states of America. 



P. Armeniaca (Common Apricot). — The 

 wild bush of the cultivated Apricot flowers in 

 February or early March, its blossoms being 

 usually of a pinkish-white, but there are 

 varieties with deeper-coloured flowers, and one 

 in which they are double. N. China. 



P. Avium (the Gean). — Wild in the British 

 Isles, generally as a tree 20 feet to 30 feet 

 high. This has long been grown as an orna- 

 mental tree, and there are three or four good 

 varieties. None is more beautiful than the 

 double form, whose pure white flowers are 

 borne in spring. The var. deciimana is a 

 striking tree with large leaves, some of which 

 measure 6 inches to 8 inches in length. The 

 var. nana is a curious dwarf plant ; var. 

 laciniata has cut leaves ; and var. pendula is 

 of weeping habit. The fruit is sweet or bitter 

 (not acid). 



P. Besseyi (Western Sand Cherry). — A 

 fine dwarf form of P. pumila, the wild Cherry 

 of the Rocky Mountains. It is as yet little 

 known in our gardens, but will make a pretty 

 bushy shrub for dry places in poor soil. The 

 foliage is an ashen-grey, the flowers white in 

 clusters of two to five, and the fruits cherry- 

 red on short stalks. 



P. Capollin. — A native of Mexico and 

 southwards, where it ranks as a fruit tree ; 

 leaves are of a dark glossy green, and hanging 

 loose and pendent, as in some Willows ; flowers 

 in erect racemes, white ; fruits round, dark 

 red and like small Cherries ; a tree 30 feet to 

 35 feet high. This is now regarded as a 

 willow-leaved form of P. serotina, the wild 

 Black Cherry of America. In France it ripens 

 seed. 



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