IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 259 



Prosopis Stephaniana, Kunth. 



Syria and Persia. A shrubby species for hedge-growth. 



Prunus Americana, Marshall. (P. nigra, Aiton.) 



Canada, Eastern United States of America. A thorny tree, 

 furnishing the Yellow and Red Plum of North America. The 

 fruit is roundish and rather small, but of pleasant taste. 



Prunus Amygdalus, J. Hooker. (Amygdalus communis, Linne.) 



The Almond Tree. Countries around the Mediterranean Sea 

 and Orient ; really indigenous on the Anti- Lebanon, in Kur- 

 destan, Turkestan, and perhaps on the Caucasus (Stewart). 

 Both the sweet and bitter almond are derived from this species. 

 Their uses and the value of the highly palatable oil obtained 

 by pressure from them are well known. This oil can well be 

 chosen as a means of providing a pleasant substitute for milk 

 during sea voyages, etc., by mixing, when required, with it 

 half its weight of powdered gum-arabic, and adding then 

 successively, while quickly agitating in a stone mortar, about 

 double the quantity of water. Thus a palatable and whole- 

 some sort of cream for tea or coffee is obtained at any moment. 

 Oil of apricot seeds is much used in India like almond oiL 

 There exist hard and soft-shelled varieties of both the sweet 

 and bitter almond. Almonds can even be grown on sea-shores. 

 The crystalline amygdalin can best be prepared from bitter 

 almonds, through removing the oil by pressure, then subjecting 

 them to distillation with alcohol, and finally precipitating with 

 ether. The volatile bitter almond-oil a very dangerous 

 substance is obtained by aqueous distillation. Dissolved in 

 alcohol it forms the essence of almonds. This can also be 

 prepared from peach kernels. 



Prunus Caroliniana, Aiton. 



Southern States of North America. Porcher regards it as one 

 of the most beautiful and manageable evergreens of those 

 States. It can be cut into any shape and is much employed 

 for quick and dense hedges. It can be grown on coast land. 



Prunus Chisasa, Michaux. 



North America, west of the Mississippi. On the prairies it is 

 only 3 to 4 feet high. Fruit spherical, red, rather small, with 

 a tender, usually agreeable pulp. Other species with edible 

 fruit occur in North America, such as P. pumila, (L.), P. Penn- 

 sylvanica (L.), P. Virginiana (L.), P. serotina (Ehrh.), but 

 their fruits are too small to render these plants of importance 



