706 



AHBORKTUM AND in l'TICI"TU]\r. 



PART 1 U 



41.5 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves ovate, acuminate<1, gla- 

 brous, shining. Peduncles solitary. Lohes 

 of calyx shorter than the tube. {Don's Mill., 

 ii. p. 514.) A shrub, somewhat tender, grow. 



ing .3 ft. or 4 ft. high, with numerous, slender, •' i ^j j_ 



purplish or brownish red twigs, which arc ^ ■ ^ i 



covered with a profusion of pale blush-co- 

 loured flowers, from JIarch to May. It was 

 introduced from China about 18J4, or earlier, 

 by John Reeves, Esq. [Bot. Beg., t. iW\.) 

 The figure in the Botanical Bcgistcr is from 



a plant which was grown in a green-house; ^<^iife: • 



and ours is from one which flowered in the -^Sii:- 



open garden, which will account for the dif- 

 ference in their appearance. 



/ 2 m/il/iplcT Ser. ^mjgdalus pdmila Lhi. Mant., 74., Bol. Mag., t. 2176., and of 

 the Hammersmith and other nurseries; and our Jigs. il5, and 416. — Flowers semi- 

 double, pink like those of the species. 4, 1 A 

 There are two shrubs in British nurseries often confounded *•" 

 together under the name of A piiniila ; the one is that now 

 described, which may be known at any season by the pur- 

 plish or brownish red colour of the bark of its young 

 shoots ; and, in summer, by its glabrous, 

 finely serrated leaves, which have a red- 

 dish tinge on their margins, and on the 

 midribs. The other, C. sinensis de- 

 scribetl below, the PrQnus japoiiica of 

 Kcr, and of the Hammersmith and other 

 nurseries, may be known in the winter 

 season by the light green or greyish 

 colour of the bark of its young shoots ; 

 by its larger, paler-coloured, and com- 

 paratively rugose leaves, doubly or 

 coarsely serrated ; and by its more com- 

 pact habit of growth. The flowers of 

 this sort arc also on longer peduncles, 

 resembling those of a cherry; while 

 those of C iaponica mtiltiplcx, the .•Jm5''gdalus piimila, or double dwarf almond of the 

 nurseries have much shorter peduncles, and are sometimes nearly sessile, giving the 

 plant more the appearance of a i^rCinus than that of a Cerasus. The C. japi'mica mv'il- 

 tiplcx has been in cultivation in British gardens, under the name of .■/mjgdalus pumila, 

 since the days of Bishop Compton ; and, though it is stated in books to have been in- 

 troduced from Africa, there can be little doubt of its being of Asiatic origin. The 

 great confusion which exists respecting these two plants, in botanical works, has in- 

 duced us to examine, with particular attention, the plants of them that are in the Hor- 

 ticultural Society's Garden, and in the Hammersmith Nursery. In the former garden, 

 there is at this time (June 10th, 18.371 Ci'rasus japonica in its single, state, but not in 

 its double state ; the plant hearing the name of C. jap<')nica fl6re plfeno being unques- 

 tionablv 'he C. sinensis described below, the Prilnus japonica of the nurseries. In the 

 Hammersmith Nursery, there are some dozens of plants of C. japonica multiplex, there 

 called //nivgdalus ptiniila, or the double dwarf almond, growing in parallel nursery 

 lines with some dozens of plants of C sinensis, there called Primus japonica, or the 

 double Chinese almond. We have considered it necessary to be thus particular, to 

 justify us for having deviated from the Bot. Mag. and Bot. Beg. 



a 19. C. sine'nsis G.Dou. The Chinese Cherry. 



Identification. Don's Mill., 2. p. 514. 



Synonyme. Priinus japonica Ker in Bot. Reg., t. J7. 



Engravings. Bot. Reg., t. 27. ; and our fig. 417. 



Spec Char frc. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, doubly serrated, 



wr'inkled'from veins beneath. Peduncles sub-aggregate. 



(Don's Mill., ii. p. 514.) There is no single state of this 



species in Britain, but there is a plant of the double va- 

 riety against a wall in the Horticultural Society's Gar- 

 den', named (June, 1836) C. japijnica fibre pleno; and, as 



noticed under the preceding sort, there arc many plants 



in the Hammersmith Nursery, under the name of P. 



iaponica, or the double Chinese almond. A highly or. 



namental shrub, which, like the preceding sort, grows to 



theheight ofjft. or 4fL, and is profusely covered with 



flowers which appear about the end of April, and con. 



tinue throughout May. The plant is somewhat more 



tender than C. j. multiplex, which is ^vell known in gar- 



dens as a hardy border shrub ; and, except in favour. 



able situations, it requires to be planted agamst a wall. 



Flowers semi-double, with the petals red on the upper 



side and white on the under. Though this and the f 



preceding sort are quite distinct, there is nothing in v 



that distinctness, as it appears to us, to determine that 



they are not varieties of the same species. Plants, in the 



London nurseries, of this and the preceding sort, are 



Is 6rf each ; at BoUwvUer, 1 franc. C. japonica, in Us 



single state, has scarcely yet been propagated for sale. 



