AMYGDALACE^E. III. ARMENIACA. 



495 



Culture, &c. This is in all respects the same as for the peach. 

 Smooth-fruited Peach or Nectarine. Fl. April, May. Tree 

 10 to 15 feet. 



III. ARMENI'ACA (so called from the apricot being origi- 

 nally from Armenia). Tourn. inst. t. 399. Juss. gen. 341. B.C. 

 fl. fr. 4. p. 485. prod. 2. p. 531. Primus species of Lin. and 

 others. 



LIN. SYST. Icosandria, Monogynia. Drupe ovate-globose, 

 fleshy, covered with a velvety skin, containing a nut or stone, 

 which is acute at one end, and blunt at the other, with a furrow 

 on both sides ; the rest smooth, not wrinkled. Small trees. 

 Leaves when young convolute. Flowers rising before the leaves 

 from scaly buds, solitary or few together, almost sessile. 



1 A. VULGARIS (Lam. diet. 1. p. 2.) flowers sessile ; leaves 

 ovate or cordate, glabrous. ^ . H. Native of Armenia. Pru- 

 nus Armeniaca, Lin. spec. 679. Malus Armeniaca of the an- 

 cients, Abricot of the French, Abricoscnbaum of the Germans, 

 and Albjcocco of the Italians. The apricot is a low tree, of 

 rather crooked growth, with broad, roundish, cordate or ovate, 

 glandularly-serrated leaves. The flowers are white, tinged 

 with dusky red. The fruit round, yellow both within and with- 

 out, firmer than plums and most peaches, inclosing a smooth 

 compressed stone, like that of the plum. The flowers appear in 

 April on the shoots of the preceding year, and on spurs of two 

 or more years old, and the fruit ripens in September. It is sup- 

 posed to have originated in Armenia, but Regnier and Sickler 

 assign it a parallel between the Niger and the Atlas ; and Pallas 

 states it to be a native of the whole of the Caucasus, the moun- 

 tains there to the top being covered with it. It appears from 

 Turner's herbal that the apricot was procured out of Italy by 

 Wolfe, a French priest, gardener to Henry VIII. The fruit 

 appears to have been known in Italy in the time of Dioscorides 

 under the name ofprcecocia, probably as Regnier supposes from 

 the Arabic bcrkoch, whence the Tuscan bacoche or albjcocco, and 

 the English apricock, or as professor Martin observes, a tree, 

 when first introduced, might have been called a praecox or early 

 fruit, and gardeners taking the article a for the first syllable of 

 the word, might easily have corrupted it to apricocks. The 

 orthography seems to have been finally changed to apricot about 

 the end of the last century, as Justice in 1764 writes apricock, 

 and Kyle and Moredun in 1782 apricot. 



Use. The fruit is used in a raw state at the dessert, and is 

 esteemed next to the peach and nectarine ; it is also made into 

 marmalades, jellies, and preserves. Grossier says, that lozenges 

 are made by the Chinese from the clarified juice, which, dis- 

 solved by water, yield a cool refreshing beverage ; oil may be 

 extracted from the nut, and the young shoots yield a fine golden 

 cinnamon colour to wool. 



Varieties. Parkinson in 1629 enumerates six; Rea in 1720 

 seven; the Luxembourg garden catalogue in 1800 fifteen; but 

 the catalogue published by the Horticultural Society in the pre- 

 sent year enumerates 41. They are as follow : 



I. Kernels bitter. 

 * Fruit small, round, early. Planters small. 



1 Red masculine apricot (Forsyth, treat, p. 2.), early red mas- 

 culine (Hort. soc. cat. no. 9.), brown masculine of some collec- 

 tions, abricot precoce or abricotin (Nois. man. 489.), fruhe mus- 

 cateller aprikose (Baum. tasch. p. 389.), abricot hatif musque 

 (Duham. fruct. 1. p. 133. Mayer, nom. no. 1. t. 2. f. 1. Nois. 

 jard. fr. t. 1.), musque hatif, Hort. Leaves roundish, cordate. 

 Fruit small. Skin dull, honey yellow. Flesh pale yellow, 

 juicy, and tender, parting from the stone. An early and excel- 

 lent fruit. 



2 White masculine (Hort. trans. 2. ser. 1. p. 59.), early white 



masculine (Hort. soc. cat. no. 8.), abricot blanc (Duham. arb. fr. 

 1. p. 13<t.), abricot peche (Mayer, pom. fr. 1. p. 30, &c.), white 

 Algiers of some gardens. The chief recommendation of this and 

 the former kind is their early time of ripening. 



* * Fruit large, 

 t Channel of the stone closed up. 



J Flesh parting from, the stone. 



3 Large early apricot (Hort. trans. 2. ser. 1. p. 66. Hort. soc. 

 cat. no. 47. Pom. mag. t. 142.), abricot gros precoce, and abricot 

 de Jaen (Aud. cat.), abricot de St. Jaen rouge in Languedoc, abri- 

 cot gros d'Alexandrie in Provence, die grosse fruhe apricose, 

 (Sickler, teutsche 12. t. 12.) Leaves large, broad, oval, tapering 

 to the petiole. Fruit large, oblong, the back nearly straight. 

 Skin downy, bright orange, red next the sun, pale orange on the 

 other side. Flesh orange-coloured, juicy, rich. An excellent 

 early sort, ripening about the middle of July. 



4 Roman apricot (Langl. pom. p. 89. t. 15. f. 4. Pom. mag. 

 t. 13. Hort. trans. 2. ser. 1. p. 61.), Roman or common (Switzer, 

 fruit, gard. p. 100.), common (Forsyth), abricot commun (Duham. 

 arbr. fr. 1. p. 135. t. 2. Nois. jard. fr. p. 2. t. 1.), gemeine apri- 

 cose (Kraft, pom. austr. l.p. 31. &c.), grosse gemeine apricose 

 (Mayer, pom. fr. 1. p. 31. t. 3.), Brussels apricot and Turkey 

 apricot of some collections. Leaves broad, cordate. Fruit mid- 

 dle-sized, dull straw-coloured, with a little dotting on the sunny 

 side, of an orange red, inclining to oval. Flesh of a dull pale 

 straw-colour, soft, soon becoming mealy, and requiring to be 

 eaten rather before its maturity. This sort bears abundantly, 

 and ripens about the beginning of August ; but it is more fit for 

 preserving than for the dessert, the juice being much less highly 

 flavoured than that of many sorts. 



5 Blotched-leaved Roman apricot (Hort. trans. 2. ser. 1. p.62.), 

 blotched Turkey, variegated Turkey, striped Turkey (Hort. soc. 

 cat. no. 27.), macule of the French, abricolier a feuilles pana- 

 chees (Duham. arb. fr. 1. p. 145.), abricot commun a feuilles 

 panachees de Jaune (Noisett. jard. fr. p. 2.), abricot bunte oder 

 gejleckte apricose, (Mayer, pom. fr. 1. p. 34. t. 4.) Leaves 

 blotched with a pale yellow or golden colour. Fruit much like 

 that of the Roman or common apricot. 



6 Royal apricot (Pom. mag. 1. t. 2. Hort. trans. 2. ser. 1. p. 

 63.), abricot royale, (Bon. jard. 1827. p. 288. Nois. man. 2. p. 

 490.) Leaves large, roundish cordate or ovate. Fruit about the 

 size of that of the moorpark, rather oval, of a dull yellow colour, 

 slightly coloured with red in a small space. Flesh pale orange, 

 very firm, juicy, sweet, and high flavoured, with a slight degree 

 of acidity. This is a very valuable sort, and ripens about 10 

 days sooner than the iitoorpark. 



7 Brussels apricot, (Hort. trans. 2. ser. 1 . p. 64.) Fruit oval, 

 compressed, of a pale orange colour, acquiring a brown tinge, 

 with deep blood red specks next the sun. The flesh is juicy, 

 rather crisp, and the fruit is most excellent for preserving. 



8 Shipley's apricot (Hort. soc. cat. no. 24. trans. 2. ser. l.p. 64.) 

 Blenheim, Shipley's large, Miss Shipley's, of various collections. 

 A fine looking fruit, very like the Roman, but larger, oval, com- 

 pressed. Skin clear, yellow, minutely speckled with brown. 

 Flesh of a very bright deep orange, juicy, with a pleasant sweet- 

 ish acid flavour, without much scent. The fruit is rather more 

 downy than the Roman, which it resembles. It ripens about the 

 last week in July. 



9 Almond apricot (Hort. trans. 2. ser. t. p. 65.), abricot aman- 

 dier, (Hort. soc. cat. no. 34.) In form like the Roman. Skin 

 pale straw coloured, blotched with pinkish spots next the sun. 

 Flesh pale yellow, dry, with very little flavour. This sort has 

 little or no merit. It ripens about the end of July. 



