•JllO 



NECTARINE 



2453. Nectarines. 



two si)ecies of it, Pcrsica riolacea, the freestone nec- 

 tarines, and P. Isn-is, the clingstone nectarines. It is 

 now known, however, that nectarines often come from 

 seetis of peaches, and peaches have come from seeds of 

 nectarines; and vet it is not impossible that a distinct 

 species is involved in the nectarine group. Either may 

 originate from the other by means of bud-variation. 

 (See Darwin's "Animals and Plants under Domesti- 

 cation " for historical data.) 



The cultivation of the nectarme is m all ways like 

 that of the peach. Because of the smooth skin of the 

 fruit, it is perhaps more liable to the attacks of curcuUo. 

 It is less popular in the market than the peach, and 

 therefore is less grown, although in California it is 

 planted on a commercial scale. In that state it does 

 well on ahnond stocks. Nectarines are usually inferior 

 to peaches in quality, probably because less attention 

 has been given to the breeding and selection of varie- 

 ties, and from the fact that there is no conventional 

 standard of excellence. Nectarines thrive in the peach 

 regions. Varieties are few, as compared with peaches. 

 The most prominent in this country are Boston, 

 Downton, Hardwick, Early Newington, Pitmaston 

 Orange, Stanwick, Humboldt, Lord Napier, Advance, 

 Elruge. In color, size and season, nectarines vary as 

 do peaches. See also Peach, and Prunus. 



L. H. B. 

 The nectarine is grown in CaUfomia almost exclu- 

 sively for dr>'ing and cannning, and even for these uses 

 is but of minor importance. As compared with peaches 

 for canning, the product of nectarines is only about one- 

 eighth of 1 per cent that of the peach, and for drying 

 onlv about 1 per cent that of the peach. The varieties 

 gro'wn for both canning and drying are the white 

 varieties, because they do not color the syrup in canning 

 and because when sulfured they make a beautiful 

 amber-colored translucent product. E. j. Wickson. 



MEG&NDO: Acer, page 204. 



NEILLIA (named after Patrick Neill, at the begin- 

 ning of the nineteenth century secretary of the Cale- 

 donian Horticultural Society at Edinburgh). Hoscickx. 

 Ornamental .shrubs chiefly grown for their grac(^ful 

 habit, the handsome bright green foliage and the attrac- 

 tive flowers. -11 



Deciduous: Ivs. stipulate, alternate, short-petioled, 

 doubly serrate and usually more or le.ss lobed: fls. in 

 racemes; calyx-tube rather large, campanulate or al- 

 most tubular, with .5 short erect sepals exceeding the .'j 

 oval petals; stamens 10-:J0, carpels 1 or 2 with teniunal 

 slender styles: pxi dehiscent only at the inn(?r suture, 

 with several shining seeds. From Spirjsa it differs, like 

 the allie^l genera Physfjcarpus and Stcphanandra, by its 

 stipulate Ivs. and shining crustaceous seeds. — About 

 10 specify in China and the Himalayas. 



The neillia.s are graceful shrubs, with spreading 

 branches, bright green generally ovate leaves and with 

 pink or whitish rather small flowers in terminal racemes. 



NEILLIA 



N. stinrnsis, which is the handsomest of the species in 

 cultivation, and N. Inngcmccmosa have proved fairly 

 hardy at the Arnold Arliorctum, while A^. Ihyrdfiora 

 requires i>rotection even in the Middle States, and is 

 often killed to the gniuud in severe winters, but usually 

 vigorous young shoots spring up and bloom and fruit 

 in the same season. On account of their grac'cful habit 

 and handsome foliage they may be used as border plants 

 for shrubberies. Thev grow in any good moderately 

 moist soil. Pr()i)agation is readily effected by green- 

 wood cuttings under glass and also by seeds treated 

 like those of s|)irea. 

 A. Fh. whitUh; racemes collected into terminal panicles. 



thyrsifidra, D. Don. Upright shrub, to 6 ft. high, 

 but usually not exceeding 2 ft. if annually killed to the 

 ground: branches angular, glabrous: stipules rather 

 large, serrate: Ivs. ovate to ovate-oblong, cordate at 

 base, long-acuminate, usually 3-lobed, incised-serrate, 

 glabrous above, pubescent on the veins or glabrous 

 beneath, 2-4 in. long; fls. short-pedicelled, in terminal 

 and axillary racemes 1 ' 2-3 in. long and crowded into 

 terminal iianicles, rarelv solitary; calyx-tube campanu- 

 late, pubescent, with the sepals about '-^in. long. Aug., 

 Sept. Himalayas. R.H. 1888, p. 416. 



AA. Fls. pink; racemes solitary. 



longeracemdsa, Hemsl. Shrub, to 10 ft.: branchlets 

 terete, pubescent: Ivs. ovate to ovate-oblong, acumi- 

 nate, rounded or subcordate at the base, incised-serrate, 

 rarely 3-lobed, glabrous above, pubescent on the veins 

 and veinlets beneath, 1^-2^2 in. long; stipules lanceo- 

 late, entire: fls. pink, about J^in. long, short-pedicelled, 

 in dense racemes 1 1 2-3}^ in. long or sometimes longer; 

 calyx tubular-campanukte; ovary hairy only at the 

 apex. June, July. W. China. 



sinensis, Oliver. Fig. 2454. Shrub, to 6 ft.: branchlets 

 terete, glabrous: Ivs. ovate to ovate-oblong, acuminate, 

 rounded at the base, incised-serrate, usually lobed. 







2454. Neillia sinensis. ( X H) 



