xxvi. ROSA V CE;E : CE'HASUS 



295 



484. rerasus lusitauica. 



observes, is its being "so very hardy as to defy the severest cold of this country; 

 for, in the hard frost of 1740, when almost every other evergreen tree and shrub 

 was severely pinched, the Portugal laurels retained their verdure, and seemed 

 to have felt no injury." In the winter of 1837-8, it was severely hurt in all 

 low moist situations in the climate of London ; but in dry gravelly soil, there, 

 and in most parts of England, it escaped uninjured. In British nurseries, it is 

 propagated by seeds, which, before and after sowing, are treated like those of 

 the common wild cherry (C. sylvestris), or those of the bird cherry (C. Padus). 



- 29. C. LAUROCE'RASUS Lois. The Laurel- Cherry, or common Laurel. 



Identification. Lois, in Du Ham., 5. p. 6. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 540. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 516. 

 Synonymes. Prunus Laurocerasus Lin. Sp. 678. ; Cherry Bay, Cherry Laurel ; Laurier au Lalt, 



Laurier Cerisier, Laurier Amandier, Fr. ; Kirsche Lorbeer, Ger. ; Lauro di Trebisonda, Ital. 

 Engravings. Blackw. Herb., t. 512. ; Du Ham. Arb., 1. p. 346. t. 133. ; and our Jig. 485. 



Spec. Char. y fyc. Evergreen. Leaves coriaceous, ovate-lanceolate, remotely 

 serrate, bearing upon the under surface of the disk 2 4 glands. Racemes 

 shorter than the leaves Fruit ovate-acute. (Dec. Prod.) A large, ram- 

 bling, evergreen, sub-prostrate shrub. Trebisond in Asia Minor ; and found 

 in Caucasus, Persia, and the Crimea. Height 6 ft. to 20 ft. Introduced in 

 1629. Flowers white; April and May. Drupe dark purple; ripe in Oc- 

 tober. Young shoots of a light green. 



Varieties. 



* C. L. 2 variegdta Hort. Leaves variegated with either white or yellow. 

 - C. L. 3 angustifdlia Hort., with leaves about a third part of the width of 



u 4 



