PKUNUS.] ROSACES. 107 



beneath when young, petals obovate-oblong, flesh of drupe adhering to the 



stone. 



Copses, hedges, &c., ascending to 1,300 ft. in Yorkshire ; fl. March-April. A 

 small, rigid, much-branched shrub, 3-8 ft. ; branches usually spinescent ; 

 wood very hard and tough. Leaves petioled, -2 in., variable in breadth, 

 acuteness, and length of petiole. Flowers white, shortly pedicelled. Petals 

 variable in breadth. Drupe globose. DISTRIB. Europe, W. Asia. The 

 Sloe is confined to Europe, the Bullace extends to N. Africa and eastwards 

 to the Himalaya. 



Sub-sjf. SPINO'SA, L. (sp.); bark black, branches divaricate all spinescent, 

 leaves finely serrulate at length glabrous beneath, flowers |- in. diam. 

 preceding the leaves, pedicels solitary or in pairs glabrous, petals obovate, 

 drupe ^ in. diam. black erect very austere. Sloe, Blackthorn. 



Sub-sp. INSITI'TIA, L. (sp.); bark brown, branches straight a few spinescent, 

 leaves larger broader more obtusely serrate pubescent beneath, peduncles 

 downy, petals broader, drupe f-1 in. diam. globose drooping black or 

 yellow. --Doubtfully wild in Scotland, where it does not extend N. of 

 Dumfries. Bultace. 



Sub-sp. domes! tica, L. (sp. ) ; bark brown, branches straight unarmed, leaves 

 pubescent on the ribs beneath, peduncles glabrous, drupe 1-1J in. diam. 

 black. Not indigenous. Wild Plum. 



SECTION 2. Cer'asus. Leaves conduplicate in bud. Flowers solitary 

 or fascicled, appearing with the leaves or after them. 



2. P. Cer'asus, L. ; leaves elliptic or obovate-oblong abruptly acumi- 

 nate irregularly crenate-serrate, flowers in subsessile umbels, calyx-tube 

 turbinate, lobes entire or serrate, petals orbicular. Ihvarf Cherry. 

 Hedges, thickets, and copses, from Cumberland southwards ; rare in Ireland ; 



a doubtful native ; fl. May. 



Sub-sp. CER'ASUS proper ; shrubby, leaves firm erect, peduncles strict, calyx- 

 tube not contracted at the mouth, lobes obtuse serrated, petals spreading 

 horizontally. A denizen ? Watson. 



Sub-sp. 2, A'VIUM, L. (sp.) ; a tree, leaves flaccid drooping, peduncles droop- 

 ing, calyx-tube contracted at the top, lobes subacute serrate, petals suberect. 

 A native ? Watson. Gean. 



I follow Bentham and the " London Catalogue ' in combining these species, 

 which are kept apart by Babington, Syme, and Hewett Watson, and with a 

 doubt in the " British Flora." The Dwarf Cherry forms a bush with copious 

 suckers, redder bark, shorter petioled less acuminate and more coarsely 

 unequally serrated leaves, and with the umbels developed at the tops of 

 the flower-buds, and it bears a juicy, red, acid cherry. The Gean is a 

 small tree, with few or no suckers, the umbels produced laterally on the 

 leaf -buds, and the drupe is more often black and bitter. The Dwarf Cherry 

 is the supposed origin of the Garden Cherry, and the Gean of the Morella. 

 DISTRIB. of both : Europe, W. Asia to the Himalaya. The Gean is found 

 farthest north, and also in N. Africa. 



SECTION 3. Laurocer'asus. Leaves conduplicate in bud. Flowers in 

 axillary or terminal racemes, appearing after the leaves. 



3. P. Pa'dus, L.; leaves elliptic or obovate acutely doubly serrate. 

 Bird Cherry. 



