CHEERY RIPE. 77 



layers, an inner integument covered on each side by an 

 epidermis ; and in the cherry these three parts are still 

 found similarly disposed, the external membrane, some- 

 what thickened, still remaining outside as the epi-carp 

 (from epi, upon) ; the moister larger, middle grown vastly 

 more succulent, is the meso-carp, or middle part ; while 

 the covering of the under side, become central by the in- 

 ward turning of the leaf, has hardened into the eudo-earp 

 or inner part, the woody case which contains the kernel. 

 Any fruit so formed is technically termed a drupe, a name 

 which applies therefore to some of the many growths 

 which popularly share the very indiscriminately-used title 

 of " berry," as well as to all which in common parlance 

 are called " stone fruits," of which number the plum is so 

 strikingly similar in its construction to the cherry that 

 they were classed together by Linnaeus, but have been 

 separated by modern botanists on the ground of other 

 differences in the plants, chiefly seen in the unfolding of 

 the leaves. 



A very remarkable cherry cultivated in France as a cu- 

 riosity is the Cerise a trochet* also called Cerise a bouqtuet, 

 the flowers of which consist of from five to seven petals, 

 30 or 40 stamens, and six to 12 ovaries, some of which 

 always become abortive through want of nutriment or 

 room to expand, while the rest mature into a cluster of 

 cherries all on one stalk. They ripen about the end of 

 June, but are always smaller than ordinary cherries, and 

 too acid to be eaten raw. 



The foliage of the different varieties of the cherry varies 

 very much, but it is usually found that trees, where this 

 is of large growth, bear also the largest flowers and fruit ; 

 and Loudon makes brief allusion to a certain " tobacco- 

 leaved cherry," the fruit of which weighs at the rate of 

 four to the pound, a magnitude which, in spite of wise 

 saws, would certainly make the proverbial "two bites " a 

 by no means uncalled-for proceeding. The cherry sports 

 more into varieties when raised from seed than any other 

 fruit, but grows larger and lives much longer in that case 



* See Plate IV., fig. 2. 



