748 



PRUNUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PTEROCARYA. 



showing a bloom. There are other named 

 varieties in cultivation, the most distinct being 

 var. stricta, with quite erect racemes. Var. 

 aucubaefolia has its foliage mottled with yellow. 

 The common Bird Cherry is a tree rather for 

 the park and woodland than the garden proper, 

 but the Manchurian and double-flowered 

 varieties fully deserve a place among flowering 

 trees. 



P. PENDULA (Cerasus pendula). A beauti- 

 ful Japanese Cherry and one of the earliest to 

 come into flower, commencing usually towards 

 the end of March. Its pendent growth has 

 led to its being commonly worked on stocks 

 5 ft. to 6 ft. high, but it comes true from seed. 

 The leaves are much like those of the common 

 Cherry, the flowers of a lovely shade of soft 

 rose and borne in profusion. In the United 

 States, where the summers are much hotter, it 

 thrives better than in England, and it should, 

 if possible, be planted in a sunny spot sheltered 

 from the north and east. 



P. PERSICA (the Peach). Although neither 

 so free -growing nor so hardy as the Almond, 

 the Peach in various forms is beautiful, and in 

 positions sheltered from the north and east 

 ought to be planted freely. There is now a 

 number of varieties at the service of the planter, 

 chiefly single and double forms with white or 

 red flowers. There is one also with purple 

 foliage known as foliis rubris, this colour ex- 

 tending also to the fruit. The many double 

 varieties it is not necessary to specify ; they 

 are known by descriptive names, like flore albo 

 pleno. These unfortunately are rarely seen 

 well grown. 



P. PROSTRATA (Mountain Cherry). A rare 

 species, but one of the most lovely of the dwarf 

 Cherries, a native of the mountains of the 

 Levant, and, although not strictly prostrate (at 

 least in cultivation), is a low spreading bush, 

 the long, slender branches arching outwards 

 and downwards to the ground. The flowers, 

 borne on very short stalks, are of a beautiful 

 lively shade of rose, are half an inch to three- 

 quarters of an inch across, and so plentiful as 

 to almost hide the branches. 



P. PSEUDO-CERASUS (the Japanese Cherry). 

 This is the tree whose flowering marks one 

 of the epochs of the year in Japan. In the 

 forests of North Japan this species becomes a 

 large timber tree, but in England it is not 

 often seen above 20 feet high, and it is the 

 double-flowered varieties that are cultivated in 

 England. They are of various shades of rosy 

 white, and are known under such names as 

 Cerasus Watereri, C. Sieboldi, &c. More so 

 perhaps' than any other are these double- 

 flowered Cherries worth extensive planting, 

 never failing to flower, being of surpassing 

 beauty and perfectly hardy. They should be 

 grown on a cool, moist bottom, and the effect 

 they produce in spring is all the greater if room 

 can be afforded for a grove of a dozen or so 

 trees with a backing of Holly or other evergreen. 



P. SERRULATA. This cherry, which is a 

 native of Japan, although scarcely so fine a 

 tree as P. pseudo-Cerasus, is nearly allied to 



it, and it can be recognised by its peculiar 

 mode of branching. The main stem is erect 

 for a few feet, but then branches off almost 

 horizontally into three or four divisions, and 

 henceforth ceases to send up a defined lead. 

 It is picturesque, representing one of the modes 

 of growth we have come to regard as essentially 

 typical of Japanese tree vegetation, and it 

 comes into flower about a fortnight later. The 

 flowers, whilst scarcely so large as in the finest 

 varieties of P. pseudo-Cerasus, are beautiful, 

 rose-tinted white, and always double. The 

 single-flowered form is not in cultivation. 



P. SIMONI. This has leaves of about the 

 same size as the common Almond, but the 

 tree itself is of more erect habit and frequently 

 resembles the Lombardy Poplar in form of 

 growth. The flowers are white, and appearing 

 in February and March. Its fruit is deep 

 purple and ripens early. China. 



P. SPINOSA FLORE-PLENO (the double Sloe 

 or Blackthorn). This flowers at the same 

 time as the Sloe, its blossoms white, about 

 half an inch in diameter and not perfectly 

 double, the centre of the flower containing a 

 cluster of stamens. The flowers are thickly 

 crowded on the short spiny branches, the black 

 colour of which serves to show off more vividly 

 the beauty of the flowers. It is one of the 

 most charming of March flowering shrubs. 



P. TRILOBA FL.-PL. This, perhaps the 

 most lovely of all the dwarf Prunus, is a native 

 of China and was introduced by Fortune. The 

 flowers are at their best in early April, and 

 each one measures \\ in. to 2 in. in diameter. 

 On first opening they are of a lovely shade of 

 delicate rose, changing with age to an almost 

 pure white. This species is perfectly hardy 

 and will thrive as a bush in the open, although 

 not so well as on a wall. The above remarks 

 refer to the double-flowered variety, which for 

 forty years has been in our gardens. Within 

 the last year or two, however, the single- 

 flowered wild type has been introduced. It 

 has smaller rosy white flowers and leaves of 

 the same shape as Fortune's plant, but smaller. 

 W. J. B. 



Pseudotsuga. See PICEA. 



PTERIS (Brake}. The Bracken Fern 

 (P. aquilina), the only thoroughly hardy 

 species of this genus, is generally so 

 common as not to need cultivation. If, 

 however, any one wishes to introduce it 

 where it is scarce, he should bear in mind 

 that to transplant it successfully large sods 

 containing the strong creeping roots must 

 be dug up, and planted in light soil ; if 

 peaty, so much the better. In very mild 

 localities, such species as P. cretica and 

 the elegant P. scaberula, from New 

 Zealand, sometimes thrive in sheltered 

 nooks. 



PTEROCARYA ( Winged nut}. Wal- 

 nut-like trees of fine stately form of leaf 

 and habit, P. caucasica being hardy in 

 our country, at least in the southern and 



