AMYGDALEJE. 95 



erect, 2-celled. Torus lining the tube of the calyx. Ovary 

 superior, solitary, simple, one-celled ; styles terminal, with a 

 groove on each side ; stigma renifbrm. Fruit a drupe. Seeds 

 usually solitary, suspended from the funiculus, which arises 

 from the base of the cavity, but coheres with its sides. Em- 

 bryo straight, with the radicle next to the hilum ; albumen 

 none ; cotyledons thick. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate. Hy- 

 drocyanic acid present in the leaves and kernel. 



1. PRUNUS. Linn. 



Drupe ovate or oblong, fleshy, very smooth, covered with 

 greyish dust ; putamen compressed, acute at both ends, ,sub- 

 sulcate at the margin, elsewhere smooth. (Plum.) 



Icosandria. JVLonogynia. 



1. P. maritima mild. : peduncles solitary ; leaves ovate-oblong, 

 acuminate, doubly serrate ; fruit dark purple. P. acuminata Mich. 



HAB. Sea coast. N. J. to Car. May. T>. Fruit about the 

 size of the common garden plum, dark purple. Beach Plum. 



2. P. Americana Marsh. : leaves oblong-oval, acuminate, sharply 

 serrate, veined ; umbel 2 4 flowered. P. nigra Muhl. not of Ait. 



HAB. Penn. Aug. Tp.-^-A tree 8 15 feet high. Flowers white. 

 Fruit reddish-yellow. By cultivation the fruit becomes large 

 and luscious. Dr. Darlington, who notices this species in his 

 Florida Cestrica, thinks it has not been described by any one 

 except Marshall. Abustrum Americanum p. iii. He remarks, ' ' I 

 certainly should not have expected to find it under the specific 

 name nigra, if Dr. Muhlenberg's catalogue had not directed my 

 attention to that species, by the subjoined English name ' Yel- 

 low Plum.' I think it cannot be the P. nigra of Aiton, Will- 

 denow, Persoon,&c. for they seem evidently to refer to a species 

 of cherry, properly so called. This species, though clearly dis- 

 tinct, approaches nearer to the Chicasa plum than to any other 

 which I have seen." Yellow Plum. Brandywine Plum. 



3. P. mollis Torr. : younger branches leaves and peduncles pubes- 

 cent ; umbels sessile, 2 3 flowered ; leaves ovate, long-acuminate, 

 doubly dentate-serrate : stipules setaceous, denticulate ; calyx nearly 

 smooth ; segments linear-lanceolate, serrate. 



HAB. Mass. A small tree. Flowers large. Fruit oval, nearly 

 black when ripe. 



4. P. spinosa Linn. : branches spiny ; peduncles solitary, calyx* 

 campanulate ; lobes obtuse, longer than the tube ; leaves obovate-ellip- 

 tic or ovate, pubescent beneath, coarsely and doubly dentate ; fruit 



>ose. 

 HAB. Hedge rows. Penn. *? . Introduced. Pursh. 



Black Thorn or Sloe. 



