436 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



This tree is remarkable for the rapidity of its growth, its long broad leaves, 

 and their woolly whiteness j and also for being one of the very latest trees, 

 whether foreign or indigenous, in coming into leaf; being later than either the 

 mulberry or ash. The leaves are conspicuous, on their first expansion, for their 

 whiteness, particularly underneath ; and in autumn, before they drop off, for 

 their fine yellow colour. 



iv. Torminaria Dec. 



Sect. Char., fyc. Petals spreading, flat, having short claws. Styles 2 5, 

 connected, glabrous. Pome scarcely at all juicy, top-shaped at the base, 

 truncate at the tip ; the sepals deciduous. Leaves angled with lobes ; in 

 the adult state glabrous. Flowers in corymbs. The peduncles branched. 

 (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 636.) Trees of the same general character, in regard to 

 habit and constitution, as P. A^ria. 



24. P. TORMINA^LIS Ekrk. The gr'iplng-fruited Service Tree. 



Identification. Ehrh. Beitr., 6. p. 92. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 636. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 647. 



Synonymes. Cratas'gus torminalis Lin. Sp. 681., Smith Eng. Bot. t. 298., Fl. Dan. t. 798., Jacq. 



Fl. Austr. t. 443. ; Sorbus torminalis Crantz Austr. p. 85. ;'the Maple-leaved Service Tree ; Ali- 



sicr de Bois, Fr. ; Elzbeerbaum, Ger. ; Ciavardello, or Mangiarello, Ital. 

 Engravings. Jacq. Fl. Austr., t. 443. -, the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vi. ; and mvtfig. 785. 



785. P. torminalis. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves cordate-ovate, feather-nerved, pinnatifidly lobed ; 

 when young, slightly downy beneath ; when adult, glabrous ; the lobes acu- 

 minate and serrated, the lowest divaricate. Seeds cartilaginous. (Dec. Prod.) 

 A deciduous tree. Britain in woods, and throughout the Middle and 

 North of Europe, and Western Asia. Height 40 ft. to 50 ft. Flowers white ; 

 May and June. Fruit red ; ripe in November. Decaying leaves yellowish 

 brown. Naked young wood purplish, marked with white spots. 

 The leaves, which are on long footstalks, are cut into many acute angles, 

 like those of some species of maple. They are nearly 4 in. long, and 3 in. 

 broad in the middle, bright green above, and slightly woolly underneath! 

 The flowers are produced in large bunches at the end of the branches; and 

 they are succeeded by roundish compressed fruit, not unlike common haws, 

 but larger, and of a brown colour when ripe. The tree is of slow growth, 

 and in this respect, and most others, it resembles P. JVia ; but it is less 

 hardy. The wood resembles that of P. ;f ria, but is without its peculiarly 

 strong smell. It weighs, when newly cut, 65 Ib. to the cubic foot, and when 



