658 



PRUNUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. PRUNUS. 



JDavii/Jaiiu. 



the flowers three-quarters of an inch to i 

 inch in diameter, in clusters on the short 

 twigs ; tree round-headed and of spreading 

 habit, 20 feet high. Prunus Pissardi is a 

 variety of this species (var. atro-purpurea, 

 the purple Myrobalan), a variety of Persian 

 origin. Its white blossoms are followed by 

 the beautiful red-purple young leaves, which 

 assume their richest tints when just open- 

 ing and in late summer and autumn. It 

 fruits in -favourable seasons, the fruits being 

 coloured like the leaves, even when young. 

 P W CERASUS (Wild Cherry). A native 

 of Britain, and usually a small tree or even 

 a shrub, bearing its pure white flowers in 

 spring. It is the double-flowered varieties, 

 however, that give this kind its chief 

 value in gardens. A very old and beauti- 

 ful Cherry is the variety known as persici- 

 flora, the flowers of which are double and 

 tinged with rose. One of more recent 

 origin is Rhexi fl.-pl., whose pure white, 

 long-stalked flowers, borne in May, hang 

 from the branches in great abundance. It 

 is a small tree, and one of the prettiest of 

 all the Cherries. Syn., Cerasus vulgaris. 



P. CHAM^CERASUS (Siberian Cherry). 

 A dwarf Cherry, the blossoms white, three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, appearing 

 in May. 



P. COMMUNIS (Common Plum).- This 

 species is believed to be the source from 

 which the cultivated Plums have been de- 

 rived, although in a less degree the Bullace 

 (P. insititia] and the Sloe (P. spinosa) have 

 each most probably a share in their origin. 

 It has, however, some value as an orna- 

 mental tree, and reaches a height of 15 

 to 20 feet, 'the flowers white. Of the 

 varieties cultivated as ornamental trees, 

 var. pruneauliana is perhaps the most 

 beautiful. It bears in April many white 

 flowers, not large, but so thickly borne as 

 to cover the twigs. There is also a double- 

 flowered form of this variety. 



P. CORNUTA (Himalayan Bird Cherry). 

 The Himalayan form of our Bird Cherry. 

 Its leaves are as a rule larger, broader, 

 and of stouter texture than those of our 

 British trees ; they are also distinct 

 in having red stalks. 



P. DAVIDIANA. The earliest of all 

 the Peaches to bloom, in mild winters 

 as early as January. Its branches are 

 of somewhat erect growth, the flowers 

 individually I inch across and completely 

 covering the shoots made the preceding 

 year, which are frequently 2 feet long. 

 The petals in one form (alba) are of a pure 

 white ; in the other (rubra) pink, but not 

 so freely borne. 



P. INSITITIA (Bullace). A small tree, 

 often wild in hedgerows, which bears 

 its white flowers in pairs during March and 

 April ; its black fruits are ripe in October. 

 There are several varieties, amongst which 

 may be mentioned that with double flowers, 

 another with yellowish-white fruits, and a 

 third with red fri.its. 



