278 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BIUTANNICUM. 



3. Heaumiers, the Helmet-shaped Cherries (C. Juliana var. heaumiana Dec.), 



somewhat resembling the bigarreau, but with less firm flesh. 

 Variety of this race used for ornamental purposes. 



C. s. duracina 2 flore plena Hort., the double flowered wild black 

 Cherry ; Merisier a Fleurs doubles, or Merisier Renunculier, Fr. ; 

 is a very beautiful variety, known, in the garden of the Hort. Soc., 

 as the double French white. 



4. JBigarreautiers, the Bigarreaus, or hard-fleshed Cherries ((7. duracina Dec.) 

 wi;h white, flesh-coloured, and black fruit, generally heart-shaped. 



447. Cerasus sylv^stris. 



The colour of the fruit of the wild species is a very deep dark red, or 

 black ; the flesh is of the same colour, small in quantity, austere and bitter 

 before it comes to maturity, and insipid when the fruit is perfectly ripe. The 

 nut is oval or ovate, like the fruit, firmly adhering to the flesh, and very large 

 in proportion to the size of the fruit. The juice is mostly coloured ; and the 

 skin does not separate from the flesh. 



3 2. C. VULGA^RIS Mill. The common Cherry Tree. 



Identification. Mill. Diet., No. 1. ; N. Du Ham., 5. p. 18. 



Synonymes and Garden Names. Ctirasus avium Mcenck ; Prunus Cerasus Lin. Sp. 679. ; C. hor- 

 tensis Pers. Syn. 2. p. 34. ; C. capronidna Dec. Prod. 2. p. 536., Don's Mill. 2. p. 507. ; P. 

 austdra and P. acida Ehr. Beitr. 7. p. 129. and 130.; P. Cerasus var. a, Eng. Flor. 2. p. 354.; Cherry, 

 Kentish or Flemish Cherry, Morello, May Duke ; Cerise de Montmorency, Cerise de Paris, 

 Cerise a Fruits ronds, Cerisier du Nord, Cerisier, and Griottier in some provinces, Fr. ; Saure 

 Kirsche, Ger. ; Marasca, or Ciliegio, Ital. 



Derivation. Capronidna is said to be derived from capron, the hautbois strawberry, probably from 

 this cherry possessing so much more flavour than C. sylvestris. Morello is either from morel 

 (Morchella esculenta), the flesh being of che same consistency as the flesh of that fungus; or, 

 perhaps, from the French word morelle, a female negro. May Duke is a corruption of Me'doc, 

 the province of France where the variety is supposed to have been originated. Griottier is said 

 to be derived from aigreur, sourness, or sharpness, and applied to this cherry from the acidity of 

 its fruit. 



Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 706. ; Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vi., as Cerasus Svium ; and our/g. 448. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Tree small, branches spreading. Flowers in subsessile um- 

 bels, not numerous. Leaves oval-lanceolate, toothed, glabrous. A decidu- 

 ous tree. Europe and Britain, in gardens and plantations. Height 30 ft. to 

 40 ft. Flowers white ; May. Drupe red ; ripe in July. Decaying leaves 

 red and yellow. 



Varieties. There are numerous cultivated varieties, which are classed by 

 Loiseleur in the Nouveau Du Hamei in three groups, including in the first 



