Amygdahis persica, 
THE PEACH-TREE. 
Synonymes. 
Amygdalus persica, 
Persica vulgaris, 
Pecher, 
Pfirsichbaum, 
Pesco, 
Persigo, Durasno, 
Pecegueiro, 
Peach-tree, 
Linnjeus, Species Plantarum. 
De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Don, Miller's Dictionary. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Spain. 
Portugal. 
Britain, Anglo- America, &c. 
Engravings. Du Hamel, Traite des Arbres et Arbustes, 1,28 ; Noisette, Jardin Fruitier; Hoffy's, Orchardist's Companion ; 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, vi., pi. 106 ; and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Covering of the nut very fleshy and juicy, its surface downy or smooth ; nut with 
wrinkled furrows. Young leaves folded flatwise. Flowers almost sessile, solitary or twin, protruded 
before the leaves. Loudon, Arboretum. 
Description. 
" And apples, which most barbarous Persia sent, 
With native poison armed (as fame relates ;) 
But now they 've lost their power to kill, and yield 
Ambrosian juice, and have forgot to hurt; 
And of their country still retain the name." 
Columella. 
[HE Amygda- 
lus persica, 
when grow- 
ing in a nat- 
ural state, is rather a small tree, with 
wide-spreading branches, and assumes 
the general form and character of the 
almond ; but when cultivated, it some- 
times attains a height of twenty or 
thirty feet, with a trunk fifteen to 
eighteen inches in diameter. Like its 
congener, the almond, its flowers appear before the leaves. They are of a very 
delicate colour, but of scarcely any scent. They usually appear in England 
early in April; at St. Mary's, in Georgia, by the middle of February; at Perth 
Amboy, in New Jersey, by the end of April, and ten weeks earlier at Naples, in 
Italy, although the two last-named places are in nearly the same parallels of lat- 
itude. The fruit is roundish, with a furrow along one side, and is covered with 
a delicate, downy cuticle, when ripe. 
Varieties. The varieties of the peach are exceedingly numerous, there being 
several hundred kinds enumerated in nurserymen's catalogues. The nectarine 
is considered by some botanists as a distinct species; but there can be no doubt 
on this point, as the peach itself i? nothing more than an improved, or fleshy 
almond, which bears a similar relation to the peach and nectarine, as the crab 
does to the apple, and the sloe to the plum. To prove that the peach and necta- 
rine are essentially the same, it may be mentioned that the fruits of both have 
been found on the same branch ; and even an instance is recorded, where a fruit 
bad the smooth surface of the nectarine on one side, and the downy skin of the 
