AMYGDALEJE. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 146. 



AMYGDALUS. 



Calyx tubular or campanulate. Petals 5, spreading : Stamens 

 numerous, inserted into the mouth of the calyx. Drupe velvety, 

 with a separable fleshy epicarp, and a stone which is rugged and 

 pitted. Young leaves folded flat. Flowers subsessile, solitary 

 or in pairs, earlier than the leaves, proceeding from scaly buds. 



470. A. communis Linn. sp. 677. Woodv. t. 83. S. and 

 C. i. t. 43. DC. prodr. ii. 531. Hedges of Barbary, Syria, 

 and the chalky cliffs of Sicily. (Almond Tree.) 



A small tree with a pale brown rugged bark. Leaves lanceolate, 

 acuminate, thin, bright light green, serrated, glandular near the base. 

 Flowers sessile, appearing before the leaves, pink or white. Calyx 

 reddish, with blunt segments. Petals variable in size, always much 

 larger than the calyx, ovate, concave, irregularly notched. Stamens 

 spreading, about A the length of the petals. Ovary woolly ; style 

 simple. Fruit a leathery hoary drupe, with the sarcocarp spontaneously 

 cracking and dropping off the putamen. Stone oblong, or ovate, acute, 

 hard in various degrees, always rugged and pitted with irregular holes. 

 Seed oblong, compressed, ovate, with a brown testa, at the apex of 

 which there is a broad round brown chalaza. Cotyledons very large, 

 plano-convex. This species produces both the sweet and bitter 

 almonds of the shops, which are only varieties of each other chiefly 

 differing in the quantity of prussic acid their seeds contain. Sweet Al- 

 monds are scentless and farinaceous, containing a large proportion of oil ; 

 they are used in emulsion and confection, and are a common article 

 of food, but are apt to prove indigestible, and to bring on urticaria 

 febrilis. Their skin is irritating, and should always be removed before 

 the almond is eaten. Bitter Almonds yield an oil like that of the last 

 variety, which is extremely poisonous. Its distilled water furnishes 

 prussic acid in abundance; and the effects of bitter almonds taken 

 into the stomach are dangerous. Many fatal cases of poisoning from 

 the incautious use of these seeds, are recorded by medical writers. 

 Bitter almonds have nevertheless been recommended as a remedy for 

 intermittent fever when mixed with decoction of bark. A liqueur 

 called Mandel amara is fabricated from them by the Italians ; but it 

 is unsafe for persons out of health or with weak stomachs to drink 

 it. They also produce urticaria, and have the reputation of being an 

 antidote to intoxication. 



47 1 . A. persica Linn. sp. 677., the common Peach, abounds 

 in the oil of bitter almonds, especially the flowers and kernels, 

 and these parts are dangerous. Dr. Christison quotes a case 



231 Q4 



