PRUNUS 



255 



scarcely half as wide ; ovate, taper-pointed, sharply, unequally, often doubly 

 toothed ; downy on the midrib and veins beneath ; leaf-stalk i in. long, hairy. 

 Flowers 'in short-stalked clusters of two to five, each flower f in. across, soft 

 rose-coloured, becoming paler with age, and borne on a sparsely hairy stalk 

 i in. long; calyx cylindrical, with short lobes; petals notched at the end. 

 Fruit not seen by me, but described as round, shining black when ripe, 

 I in. across. 



Native of Japan ; introduced to Kew in 1895, and since proved to be one 

 of the most beautiful of the cherries. It flowers from the end of March 

 until mid-April, before the leaves appear. It is allied and in many respects 

 similar to P. pendula, and has by a Japanese botanist been called " P. pendula, 

 var. ascendens," but in this country at least it is distinct enough, also more 

 reliable and less subject to injury by frost. It is easily propagated by cuttings 

 put in about the middle of June, when; the shoots are half woody. 



PRUNUS SUBHIRTELLA. 



P. TOMENTOSA, Thunberg. DOWNY CHERRY. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8196.) 



A deciduous shrub of spreading habit, 4 to 8 ft. high and twice as wide ; 

 branchlets covered densely with a close, pale down. Leaves obovate or 

 oblong, with an abrupt point, 2 to 3 ins. long, f to i| ins. wide ; toothed, dark 

 dull green, and furnished with scattered hairs above, paler and densely woolly 

 beneath. Flowers f in. across, white, tinted with rose, produced singly or in 

 pairs at the joints of the previous year's growth, each on a stalk \ in. long. 

 Fruit bright red, about the size of a small cherry, slightly hairy, ripe in July. 



Native of N. and W. China, but introduced from Japan about forty years 

 ago. It usually flowers about the fourth week in March, and is then an object 

 of great beauty and charm. Shoots from i to 2 ft. long are made in one 

 season, and these the following spring are furnished from end to end with 

 the delicately tinted flowers. It must be said, however, that its beauty is 

 short-lived. The petals are fragile and easily fall, so that if sharp rain-storms 

 or harsh winds are prevalent (as often happens when they are expanding), their 

 full beauty is never displayed. Some sheltered nook should be chosen for it, 

 a consideration its early blossoms entitle it to. The fruits* are not freely 



