PRUNUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PRUNUS. 



P. CERASIFERA (the Myrobalan). The 

 showiest of all the Plums, flowering whilst the 

 leaf-buds are as yet mere tips of green, the 

 flowers three-quarters of an inch to I inch in 

 diameter, in clusters on the short twigs ; tree 

 round-headed and of spreading habit, 20 feet 

 high. Primus Pissardi is a variety of this 

 species (var. atro-purpurea, the purple Myro- 

 balan), a variety of Persian origin. Its white 

 blossoms are followed by the beautiful red- 

 purple young leaves, which assume their richest 

 tints when just opening and in late summer 

 and autumn. It fruits in favourable seasons, 

 the fruits being coloured like the leaves, even 

 when young. 



P. CERASUS (the wild Cherry). A native of 

 Britain, and usually a small tree or even a 



Cerasus Watereri. 



shrub, bearing its pure white flowers in spring. 

 It is the double-flowered varieties, however, 

 that give the species its chief value in gardens. 

 A very old and beautiful Cherry is the variety 

 known as persiciflora, the flowers of which are 

 double and tinged with rose. One of more 

 recent origin is Rhexi fl.-pl., whose pure white, 

 long-stalked flowers, borne in May, hang from 

 the branches in great abundance. It is a small 

 tree, and one of the prettiest of all the Cherries. 

 Syn. Cerasus vulgaris. 



P. CHAM^ECERASUS (Siberian Cherry). A 

 dwarf Cherry, the blossoms white, three- 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, appearing in 

 May. One form of this species is represented 



by a tree 10 feet or more high at Kew, but as 

 a rule it is only half as high. It is naturally 

 a small rounded shrub of neat, close habit, but 

 is mostly grown as a standard. There is a 

 drooping variety (pendula), and another with 

 variegated foliage. 



P. COMMUNIS (Common Plum). This 

 species is believed to be the source from which 

 the cultivated Plums have been derived, al- 

 though in a less degree the Bullace (P. 

 insititia) and the Sloe (P. spinosa) have each 

 most probably a share in their origin. It has, 

 however, some value as an ornamental tree, 

 and reaches a height of 15 feet to 20 feet, the 

 flowers white. Of the varieties cultivated as 

 ornamental trees, var. pruneauliana is perhaps 

 the most beautiful. It bears in April many 

 white flowers, not large, but so thickly borne 

 as to cover the twigs. There is also a double- 

 flowered form of this variety. 



P. CORNUTA (Himalayan Bird Cherry). 

 This is the Himalayan form of our Bird Cherry. 

 Its leaves are as a rule larger, broader, and 

 of stouter texture than those of our British 

 trees ; they are also distinct in having red 

 stalks. 



P. DAVIDIANA. This is the earliest of all 

 the Peaches to bloom, in mild winters as early 

 as January. Its branches are of somewhat erect 

 growth, the flowers individually I inch across 

 and completely covering the shoots made the 

 preceding year, which are frequently 2 feet 

 long. The petals in one form (alba) are of a 

 pure white ; in the other (rubra) pink, but not 

 so freely borne. 



P. INSITITIA (the Bullace). A small tree, 

 often wild in hedgerows, which bears its white 

 flowers in pairs during March and April ; its 

 black fruits are ripe in October. There are 

 several varieties, amongst which may be 

 mentioned that with double flowers, another 

 with yellowish-white fruits, and a third with 

 red fruits. 



P. JACQUEMONTI. A pretty shrub, native 

 of Northern India, where it is found at altitudes 

 from 6,000 to 12,000 ft., with flowers of a 

 bright rosy pink, about half an inch across, 

 and borne in great abundance on the growths 

 of the previous summer. The Chinese P. hu- 

 milis is nearly related to this. 



P. JAPONICA (Double Chinese Plum). 

 This is one of the most lovely of spring-flower- 

 ing shrubs. The single form probably not in 

 cultivation ; the double one has white flowers 

 with a more or less rosy tint, some, indeed, of 

 a distinct rose colour. The flowers, each about 

 1 1 in. across, are borne thickly on short stalks 

 from the slender shoots of the previous year. 

 It can be struck from cuttings, but it is better 

 to layer the shoots of an old plant. In that 

 way nice flowering plants can be obtained in 

 two years. Grafted plants neither grow nor 

 flower so well, and a constant watch has to be 

 kept for suckers. Syn. P. sinensis. 



P. LAURO-CERASUS (Cherry Laurel). A 

 noble evergreen tree often overplanted and 

 misused, and where this is so Cherry Laurels 

 have to be continually cut back to keep them 



