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NUTTALLIA 



in great numbers, and forming ultimately a dense thicket several feet 

 through; branchlets smooth, bright green. Leaves alternate, narrow- 

 oblong or lance-shaped; 2 to 3^ ins. long, f to ij ins. wide; of thin 

 texture, green and quite smooth above, greyish beneath ; margin entire ; 

 narrowed at the base to a stalk \ in. or less long. Male and female 

 flowers usually on different plants ; both borne on stiff, pendent, copiously 

 bracted racemes ij to 2 ins. long. Each flower is about J in. across, the 

 five petals white; the calyx green, bell-shaped, nve-lobed. Male flowers 

 have fifteen stamens; females five carpels. Fruit plum-like, oval, | in. 

 long, purple when ripe, usually not more than two of the carpels of each 

 flower developing. 



NUTTALLIA CBRASIFORMIS (in fruit). 



Native of California ; introduced in 1848, and a close ally of Prunus, 

 from which it differs in the five-carpelled female flower. In gardens the 

 Oso berry is useful for its early, almond-scented blossoms, which are 

 usually fully open by the third week in March, being produced from the 

 leafless shoots of the previous year.' The female plant is of coarser habit 

 than the male and not so pretty nor so free in blossom, but it is worth 

 associating with the male for the sake of its abundant fruits. The 

 species is very hardy and thrives in a well-drained, loamy soil. It is 

 easily propagated by taking off small pieces from old plants, also by 

 seeds. The fruits are very bitter and strongly almond-scented. A form 

 with hermaphrodite or self-fertilising flowers has recently been introduced. 



