516 



AMYGDALACE^E. V. CERASUS. VI. POLYDONTIA. SPIR^ACE^E. 



Indies. Priinus occidentals, Swartz, fl. ind. occ. 2. p. 925. 

 Catesb. car. 2. p. 94. t. 94. ? Flowers white. 



Occidental Bird-cherry. Fl. year. Clt. 1784. Tree 20 ft. 



43 C. LUSITA'NICA (Lois, in Duham. ed. nov. 5. p. 5.) ra- 

 cemes erect, axillary, longer than the leaves ; leaves ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, serrated, glandless. J? . H. Native of Portugal and 

 Pennsylvania. Priinus Lusitanica, Lin. spec. 678. Mill. fig. 

 131. t. 196. f. 1. Dill. hort. elth. 193. t. 159. f. 193. Fruit 

 ovate, red when ripe. The Portugal laurel is one of the most 

 elegant shrubs which we have in our plantations, especially when 

 planted in a proper situation and soil. The evergreen shining 

 leaves and the long racemes of white flowers make altogether a 

 very striking appearance. It was brought to England from Por- 

 tugal, but whether it is a native of that country is doubtful. 



Var. ft, Hixa (Ser. in D. C. prod. 2. p. 540.) leaves larger ; 

 racemes more elongated ; flowers looser. Tj . H. Native of 

 Teneriffe, the Grand Canary, and Palma. Prunus Hixa, Brouss. 

 ex Willd. enum. 517. Prunus multiglandulosa, Cav. ann. sci. 

 nat. 3. p. 59. The lower serratures of the leaves are glandular, 

 according to Willdenow. 



Portugal Laurel. Fl. June. Clt. 1 648. Tree 10 to 20 feet. 



44 C. IAURO-CE'RASUS (Lois, in Duham. ed. nov. 5. p. 6.) 

 racemes shorter than the leaves ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, re- 

 motely serrated, furnished with 2 or 4 glands beneath ; fruit ovate, 

 acute. I? . H. Native of the Levant, Caucasus, the moun- 

 tains of Persia, and the Crimea. Prunus Laurocerasus, Lin. 

 spec. 678. Clusius received it in 1576 from David Ungand, then 

 ambassador from the Emperor of Germany at Constantinople, 

 with some other rare trees and shrubs, all of which perished ex- 

 cept the common laurel and horse-chestnut. It was sent by the 

 name of Trabison Cumasi or Dale of Trebisond. The leaves have 

 a bitter styptic taste, accompanied with a flavour resembling that 

 of the bitter almond ; this flavour has caused them to be used for 

 culinary purposes in custards, puddings, blanc-mange, &c., and 

 as the proportion of the sapid matter of the leaf to the quantity 

 of milk is inconsiderable, no bad effects are produced. Laurel- 

 water is prepared, according to the Prussian pharmacopoeia, by 

 drawing oft' 3 pounds of distilled water from 2 pounds of the 

 fresh leaves. See Ami/gdalus. 



Cherry-laurel or Common Laurel. Fl. April, May. Clt. 

 1629. Shrub 6 to 10 feet. 



45 C. SPHJEROCA'RPA (Lois. 1. c. 5. p. 4.) racemes axillary, 

 erect, small, shorter than the leaves ; leaves glandless, quite 

 entire, shining; flowers distant; fruit nearly globose. Tj . S. 

 Native of Jamaica, St. Domingo, Hispaniola, and Brazil, in 

 woods. Prunus sphaerocarpa, Swartz, fl. ind. occ. 2. p. 927. 

 but not of Michx. Sloane, hist. 2. p. 9. t. 193. f. 1. "Wood 

 very hard and white. Leaves 2 inches long and about an inch 

 and a half broad, nearly round. Fruit purple when ripe. 



Round-fruited Evergreen Bird-cherry. Fl. June, July. Clt. 

 1820. Tree 10 to 12 feet. 



46 C. BRASILIE'NSIS (Cham, et Schlecht. Linnaea. 2. p. 542.) 

 racemer axillary, shorter than the leaves, erect ; leaves elliptic, 

 acuminated at both ends, quite entire, with revolute edges, fur- 

 nished with a gland on both sides of the middle nerve at the 

 base beneath. f; . S. Native of Brazil. Drupe black. 



Brazilian Evergreen Bird-cherry. Tree. 



47 C. CAROLINIA'NA (Michx. fl. bor. amer. 1. p. 285.) leaves 

 on short petioles, oblong-lanceolate, mucronate, smooth, rather 

 coriaceous, almost entire ; racemes axillary, dense, shorter than 

 the leaves ; flowers rather large ; fruit nearly globose, mucro- 

 nate. 17 . H. Native of North America, from Carolina to 

 Florida. Lois, in Duham. ed. nov. 5. p. 5. Prunus Caroli- 

 niana, Ait. hort. kew. 2. p. 163. Leaves about 2 inches long, 

 % of an inch broad, with a few indentures on their edges. Flowers 

 white. 



Carolina Evergreen Bird-cherry. 

 Tree 20 to 30 feet. 



Fl. May. Clt. 1759. 



48 C. SALICIFOLIA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 540.) quite glabrous ; 

 leaves oblong-lanceolate, ending in a very long acumen, sharply 

 serrulated, smooth, permanent ; calyx permanent, with the lobes 

 denticulated ; petioles furnished with 1 or 2 glands ; style 

 curved. ^ s - Native of New Granada. Prunus salicifolia, 

 H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 4. p. 241. t. 563. Leaves like 

 those of Salixfragilis. Flowers white. 



Willow-leaved Evergreen Bird-cherry. Tree 20 to 30 feet. 



49 C. FERRUGINEA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 540.) leaves obovate, 

 permanent, on short petioles, retuse ; petioles and branches 

 clothed with rusty velvety down ; racemes length of leaves, 

 fj . S. Native of Mexico. Fruit unknown. 



Rusty Evergreen Bird-cherry. Shrub. 



50 C. CAPU'LI (Ser. mss. in D. C. prod. 2. p. 541.) leaves 

 lanceolate, sharply serrated, glandless, glabrous, fj . S. Native 

 of Peru. Prunus Capuli, Cav. ex Spreng. syst. 2. p. 477. 

 Perhaps the same as C. Capollin of Mexico. 



Capuli Evergreen Bird-cherry. Tree. 



Cult. All the hardy kinds of this genus are well adapted for 

 shrubberies ; they are generally increased by cuttings or layers, 

 which should be planted in September, in as sheltered a border 

 as possible ; some of them are raised more readily by seeds, as 

 the Portugal laurel. Ripened cuttings of the stove and green- 

 house kinds root freely if planted in a pot of sand, with a hand- 

 glass placed over them ; those of the stove species require bot- 

 tom heat to make them strike root. 



VI. POLYDO'NTIA (from wo\v, poly, many, and ocouc 

 ociovroc, odous odontos, a tooth ; calyx having more teeth than 

 other genera in the order). Blum, bijdr. 1104. 



LIN. SYST. Icosdndria, Monogynia. Calyx inferior, campa- 

 nulate, with a 6-cleft deciduous limb. Petals 6, very minute, 

 inserted in the limb of the calyx. Stamens 12-18, nearly equal, 

 inserted with the petals. Ovary free, 1-celled. Stigma peltate. 

 Drupe kidney-shaped, dry, 1 -seeded. Embryo exalbuminous, 

 inverted. A tree 30 to 50 feet high, with alternate, oblong, 

 quite entire, exstipulate leaves, for the most part biglandular at 

 the base. Racemes axillary and lateral, solitary or crowded, 

 tomentose. Flowers small, furnished with 1 bractea each. This 

 genus is hardly distinct from Amygdalus. 



1 P. ARBOREA (Blum, bijdr. p. 1105.). Tj . S. Native of 

 Java, in mountain woods. 



Tree Polydontia. Tree 30 to 50 feet. 



Cult. A mixture of loam, peat, and sand will suit this tree ; 

 and ripened cuttings will strike root, if planted in sand, under a 

 hand-glass, in heat. 



LXXXI. SPIRJEA'CE^E (plants agreeing with Spirafa in 

 important characters). Ulmarise, Vent. t. 3. p. 351. Rosaceae, 

 Tribe III. Spiraeacese, D. C. prod. 2. p. 541. 



Calyx 5-cleft (f. 65. a. f. 66. a. f. 67. a.), imbricate in aesti- 

 vation, with a disk either lining the tube (f. 67. b.~), or surround- 

 ing the orifice, the fifth lobe next the axis. Petals 5 (f. 65. b. 

 f. 66. b. f. 67. c.), perigynous, equal. Stamens from 20-50, 

 arising from the calyx or the disk, with the petals curved in- 

 wards in aestivation ; anthers innate, 2-celled, bursting length- 

 wise. Ovaries superior, several together (f. 65. rf.), free from 

 the calyx. Follicles or carpels several (f. 65. rf.), distinct, dis- 

 posed in a whorl, around an imaginary axis of the flower, usually 

 5 (f. 65. ef.) in number, but sometimes fewer from abortion, 

 apiculate by the styles, they at length become capsular, and open 



