246 PRUNUS 



toothed ; 2^ to 3 ins. long, about I to i J ins. wide ; smooth and glossy green 

 at maturity ; leaf-stalk ^ to f in. long with a pair of glands towards the top, 

 remaining downy longer than the blade. Flowers white, ^ in. across, pro- 

 duced during the second week of May in clusters of three or four ; petals 

 narrowly obovate ; calyx-lobes downy on the inner surface and margins, not 

 toothed ; flower-stalk ^ in. long, smooth. Fruit round, I in. across, nearly 

 black covered with a blue bloom ; flesh juicy, palatable. 



Native of Texas ; discovered by Engelmann in 1880, and introduced to 

 cultivation by him through the Arnold Arboretum. It succeeds very well at 

 Kew, where there is a small tree II ft. high, obtained in 1896 from Spath's 

 nursery, near Berlin. Three years previously it had been given the above 

 name by Dr Koehne. The American plums are not particularly effective in 

 English gardens, but this promises to be one of the best. It is allied to 

 P. hortulana, differing in its darker coloured fruit and in the absence of glands 

 on the calyx-lobes. 



P. PADUS, Linnceus. BIRD CHERRY. 



(Padus racemosa, Lamarck?) 



A deciduous tree, with strong, rather acrid smelling bark, from 30 to 

 over 50 ft. high, of open, rather gaunt habit when young ; the branchlets 

 usually covered at first with a fine down, sometimes quite smooth. Leaves 

 oval or obovate, 3 to 5 ins. long, \\ to T.\ ins. wide ; pointed at the end, 

 mostly rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, finely toothed, dull dark 

 green above, smooth beneath or with tufts of down in the vein-axils beneath ; 

 stalk smooth, with two or more glands, \ to f in. long. Flowers fragrant, 

 white, -g- to \ in. wide, borne on drooping or spreading racemes 3 to 6 ins. 

 long, and from f to \\ ins. through, which terminate short leafy shoots ; calyx 

 with five shallow, rounded, often glandular lobes. Fruit round, \ in. to \ in. 

 diameter, black, harsh and bitter to the taste. 



Var. AUCUB^FOLIA. Leaves spotted after the manner of Aucuba japonica ; 

 of little value. 



Var. AUREA. Young leaves yellowish. This form is of no particular value 

 in regard to its leaves, which soon turn green, but it has good robust foliage 

 and its flowers are of larger size than ordinary. 



Var. COMMUTATA, Dippel. A wild variety from Manchuria, remarkable 

 for flowering about three weeks in advance of any other bird cherry, being 

 usually in bloom by the middle of April. Its flowers are fully ^ in. across. 

 Sometimes cut by late frosts. (Garden and Forest, vol. i., fig. 47.) 



Var. FLORE PLENO. Flowers large and "double." This is the most 

 attractive of all the varieties, and remains longer in flower than any. 



Var. LEUCOCARPA. Fruits white. 



Var. PENDULA. Branches pendulous. 



Var. ROTUNDIFOLIA (P. Laucheana, Bolle). Leaves almost as wide as 

 long. It has been suggested that this is a hybrid between Padus and 

 virginiana. 



Var. STRICTA. Racemes quite erect. 



Var. WATERERI. The best of the single-flowered varieties, the racemes 

 being up to 8 ins. long ; leaves with conspicuous tufts of down in the axils 

 of the veins. 



The bird cherry is widely spread over the northern part of the Old World, 

 extending in one or other of its forms from the British Isles to Japan. It is 

 a very hardy tree, and not particular as to soil. Whilst the typical form may 

 give place in gardens to such varieties as flore pleno and Watereri, it is itself 

 very charming when planted in thin woodland. The named varieties are 

 best propagated by budding on seedlings of the type in July. The tree has 



