PRUNUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. PRUNUS. 



657 



P. ALLEGHANIENSIS. Usually a shrub 

 from 4 to 6 feet high, but sometimes a 

 small tree three or four times that height. 

 The flowers, ^ inch across, at first pure 

 white changing to pink, are followed by 

 handsome fruits, which are blue - purple, 

 nearly globular, and valued for preserving. 

 Pennsylvania. 



P. AMERICANA (Wild Red Plum). A 

 handsome tree found in North America to 

 the east of the Rocky Mountains, and one 

 of the hardiest. It is a tree 20 feet or 

 more high, of graceful habit, bearing at the 

 end of April or the beginning of May many 

 pure snowy white blossoms ; fruits red or 

 yellowish-red, the species being cultivated 

 in the United States on their account. 

 The Canada Plum, P. nigra, a form of this, 

 is yet more showy and earlier in flower, but 

 runs into americana through intermediate 

 forms. 



P. AMYGDALUS (the Common Almond). 

 One of the earliest of trees to bloom, and 

 reaching its best before hardy trees have 

 done more than show signs of reviving life. 

 There are several named varieties in 

 cultivation: Amara (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 culti- 

 vated under names denoting these char- 

 acters, and pretty dwarf forms, pink and 

 white, known as nanas, and charming 

 in the rock garden. Syn., Amygdalus 

 communis. 



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 

 feet in height, with twiggy, much-spined 

 branches and abundant 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 ornamental tree, and there are three or 

 four good varieties. None is more beauti- 

 ful than the double form, whose pure white 

 flowers are borne in spring. The var, 

 decumana 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) . 



Cerasus Watereri. 



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. 



P. CERASIFERA (the Myrobalan). The 

 showiest of ajl the Plums, flowering whilst 

 the leaf-buds are as yet mere tips of green, 



