82 



CALYCIFLORiE 



the fruit oblong. From one or other of these three all the cultivated 

 varieties of Plum are supposed to have originated. Fl. April, May. 

 Small tree. 



Fruit without bloom ; young leaf with the halves folded together 



3. P. Padus (Bird-Cherry). Flowers in 

 pendulous racemes ; leaves narrow, egg- 

 shaped ; fruit ovid, black, bitter ; stone 

 rugged. A handsome shrub, or small tree, 

 not uncommon in the north of England in 

 a wild state, and common in gardens and 

 shrubberies elsewhere. The racemes of 

 flowers and drupes are not unlike those of 

 the Portugal Laurel, to which the plant is 

 nearly allied, but the leaves are not ever- 

 green. Fl. white, May. Small tree. 



4. P. avium (Wild Cherry). Flowers in 

 umbels ; leaves drooping, suddenly pointed, 

 downy beneath; calyx -tube contracted 

 above ; fruit heart-shaped, small, bitter, 

 black or red, and is greedily devoured by 



Prunus Padus (Bird-Cherry) bi r d s as soon as ripe. A highly orna- 

 mental tree, not only on account of its 

 elegant white flowers in spring, but even 

 more so in autumn, when its leaves assume 

 a bright crimson hue. Fl. May. A lofty 

 tree without suckers. 



5. P. cerasus (Red Cherry). Flowers in 

 umbels ; leaves not drooping, smooth on 

 both sides ; calyx-tube not contracted ; 

 fruit round, juicy, acid, always red. This 

 species is distinguished from the pre- 

 ceding by the characters given above and 

 by its lower stature, which is said not to 

 exceed 8 feet, while the other attains a 

 height of 30-40 feet ; it also sends up 

 numerous suckers from the roots. Some 

 botanists, however, consider them mere 

 varieties of the same tree. From one or 

 other all the cultivated kinds of cherry 

 are derived. Woods and hedges ; not so 

 common. Fl. May. Shrub. 



2. Spiraea {Meadow-sweet) 



1. S. ulmaria (Meadow-sweet, Queen of _ Sp Ulmaria (Meadow- 

 ,, , , . . v . . , ' %_ Sweet, Queen of the Meadows) 



the Meadows). A handsome herbaceous 



