250 PRUNUS 



type of a small, but very distinct group of dwarf American cherries including 

 Besseyi, cuneata, and utahensis. P. pumila is distinguished by its leaves 

 being broadest above the middle, and by the fruit having no bloom. It has 

 also a more northern distribution than the others. 



P. RUFA, Hooker fiL HIMALAYAN CHERRY. 



(Cerasus rufa, Wallich.) 



A deciduous tree, 15 to 20 ft. high ; young branches thickly covered with 

 reddish brown down. Leaves from 2 to 4 ins. long ; narrowly oval or oblong- 

 lanceolate, with a long drawn-out apex, toothed, each tooth tipped with an 

 egg-shaped gland ; downy on the midrib and veins only when young ; stalk 

 in. long. Flowers pink, | in. across, produced singly or a few together in 

 clusters from the buds of the previous year's growth ; calyx J in. long, 



PRUNUS SARGENTII. 



funnel-shaped, with triangular, toothed lobes, hairy or smooth ; flower-stalk 

 J to i in. long, slightly downy. Fruit longer than wide, red, fleshy. 



Native of Nepal and Sikkim, reaching to elevations of 12,000 ft. It was 

 introduced to Kew about 1897, and has proved quite hardy there, flowering 

 in early May. It is distinct on account of the rusty-coloured down and the 

 very glandular teeth of the leaves, but is not one of the most ornamental of 

 cherries. There are two distinct forms in cultivation, one of which has a 

 close bark on the trunk, a smooth or nearly smooth calyx, and short flower- 

 stalk ; the other has a peeling bark, shaggy calyx, and flower-stalk occasion- 

 ally over i in. long. 



P. SARGENTII, Rehder. SARGENT'S CHERRY. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8411.) 



A deciduous tree, 40 to 80 ft. high, with a trunk sometimes 3 ft. in diameter ; 

 young shoots smooth. Leaves obovate to oval, drawn out at the apex into a 



