A M Y 



A M Y 



long in a place : they should have a sheltered 

 situation, in order to prevent their branches being 

 brokenby the winds. As theshoots are large, soft, 

 and tender, their upper parts are liable to be killed 

 by the frosts in winter, but they put out new 

 shoots in plenty below the dead parts the spring 

 following in general. 



From the tall growth of this shrub, and the 

 beauty of its flowers, it may be employed with 

 much effect in assemblage with others informing 

 extensive shrubberies, in which cases it should 

 be set rather to the back parts of the borders or 

 clumps. 



AMYGDALUS, a genus comprising the Al- 

 mond, Peach, and Nectarine, which are trees of 

 the finer fruit kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Icosandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Pomacece. 



The characters of which are : that the calyx is 

 a one-leafed perianthium, tubulous, inferior, 

 quinquefid, deciduous ; the divisions spreading, 

 and obtuse: the corollaconsist'mg of live petals, ob- 

 long, ovate, obtuse, concave, being inserted into 

 the calyx: the stamina have about 30 filiform 

 filaments, erect, shorter by half than the corolla, 

 inserted into the calyx : the antherae" are simple : 

 the pistillum has a roundish, villose germ : the 

 style simple, of the length of the stamina: the 

 stigma headed : the pencarpium is a roundish, 

 villose, large drupe, with a longitudinal furrow : 

 the seed is a nut, ovate, compressed, acute, with 

 prominent sutures on each side, reticulate with 

 furrows, and dotted with small holes. The nut 

 of the almond is covered with a dry skin ; that 

 of the peach with a soft pulp. 



The species chiefly cultivated in the first or 

 Almond kind are : 1, A. communis, Common 

 Almond Tree; 2. A. dalcis, Sweet or Jordan 

 Almond ; 3. A. sativa, White-flowered Almond 

 Tree; 4. A. nana, Common Dwarf Almond; 



5. A. pumila, Double-flowered Dwarf Almond; 



6. A. incunu, Hoary Dwarf Almond ; 7. A. orien- 

 talis, Silvery-leaved Almond. 



The first of these species, or the Common Al- 

 mond, grows to the height of near twenty feet, 

 with spreading branches. The leaves have much 

 resemblance to those of the Peach ; but the lower 

 serratures are glandular, and proceed from buds 

 both above ana below the flowers, while in the 

 Peach they proceed from the ends of the shoots, 

 above and not below the flowers. The form of 

 the flowers is not very different, but they come 

 out usually in pairs, and vary more in their colour 

 from the fine blush of the apple-blossom to a 

 snowy whiteness. But the chief obvious distinc- 

 tion is in the fruit, which is flatter, with a coria- 

 ceous covering, instead of a rich pulp ; opening 



spontaneously when the kernel is ripe. The 

 shell is less hard than in the peach, and is some- 

 times even tender and exceedingly brittle ; it is 

 flatter, smoother, and the furrows or holes are 

 more superficial. 



This tree is scarcely worth any thing for the 

 fruit which it produces in this climate ; but in 

 some parts of Italy, and in the South of France, 

 it is of much importance in this view, where there 

 are vast plantations of it. It is a native of Barbary. 



In the second, or Jordan Almond, the nuts 

 have a tender shell, and a large sweet kernel. 

 The leaves are broader, shorter, and grow much 

 closer than those of the common sort, and their 

 edges are crenate. The flowers are very small 

 anu of a pale colour, inclining to white. It is 

 observed by the editor of Miller's Dictionary that 

 he has several times raised these trees from the 

 almonds which came from abroad, and always 

 found the plants to maintain their difference from 

 the Common Almond. 



The third species has narrow sharp-pointed 

 leaves; the flowers are much smaller than those 

 of the Common Almond, and are white : the 

 shoots of this tree are also smaller, and the joints 

 closer than those of the common sort, nor is the 

 tree so hardy : therefore it should have the advan- 

 tage of a warm situation, or otherwise it will not 

 thrive. This sort flowers early in the spring, but 

 rarely produces fruit in this climate, except in 

 very warm exposures. 



In the fourth species, the leaves are scattered, 

 subpetioled, lanceolate, but more attenuated to- 

 wards the base, somewhat rigid, smooth, the 

 serratures very sharp and even somewhat spinose. 

 The stipules are linear, long, serrate-toothed, and 

 deciduous. The flowers very abundant on the twigs, 

 appearing with the first leaves from all the buds, 

 either solitary or two together. The calyx is 

 subsessile, reddish. The segments acute, green, 

 very finely serrulate. The petals are of a line 

 rose-colour. The stamens about twenty, the 

 inner ones gradually shorter; the filaments bow- 

 ed a little and converging at the end. The pistil 

 the length of the calyx, extremely villose. The 

 fruit usually solitary, sessile, ovate, somewhat 

 compressed, pointed by the shrivelled style, ex- 

 tremely hirsute with a harsh yellowish wool, the 

 size of a hazel-nut. The coriaceous covering- 

 splits and falls off when the kernel is ripe; the 

 nut is of a sharp ovate form, compressed, of a 

 yellowish gray colour, grooved at the sutures; 

 the kernel like that of the peach both in colour 

 and taste. The wood of this little tree is hard, 

 of a yellowish chesnut colour, and veined ; but 

 the trunk is seldom an inch in thickness. It 

 varies very much in size, being in some places 

 low and shrubby, scarcely attaining a span in 



