FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 



393 



NAME. 



COUNTRY OR COLOUR 

 ORIGIN AND AND 



NATURAL ORDER. SEASON. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



Prunus 



P. Amygdalus 

 (the Almond) 



Native of 

 Southern Europe 

 and the Levant 



: P. davidiana 



(Amygdalus davi- 

 diana) 



Pink; 

 Spring 



China 



White or 



pale rose ; 



January 



or early 



February 



ceed on the plum stock, are 

 best, as they are more surface- 

 rooting than the remainder. 

 The presence of lime in the 

 soil is highly beneficial to all 

 the Prunuses and, if not 

 naturally present, can easily 

 be given in the form of old 

 mortar-rubbish forked in 

 liberally round them. Pro- 

 pagation is effected by seeds, 

 cuttings, layers, or by bud- 

 ding or grafting. Details of 

 propagation will be found 

 with each section. 



This is the Almond, the tree 

 which foreshadows the com- 

 ing of spring, its leafless 

 shoots enveloped in pink- 

 tinted flowers. In the south- 

 ern and central parts of the 

 country it is largely grown, 

 especially in small suburban 

 gardens, but is not quite 

 hardy enough for the north, 

 unless the position is very 

 favourable. The fruit is 

 chiefly composed of the large 

 deeply-pitted stone, which is 

 only covered with a thick, 

 tough, woolly skin. There 

 are five good varieties : Am- 

 ara, the Bitter Almond, with 

 large white flowers tinged 

 with a soft rose colour in the 

 centre ; dulcis, the Sweet Al- 

 mond, with large red flowers 

 and amongst the first to open; 

 macrocarpa, which has larger 

 flowers and fruits than the 

 type, but the flowers are of 

 paler colour ; pendula, a half- 

 weeping variety, deep pink 

 flowers ; persicoides, a hand- 

 some tree, more upright in 

 growth than the type, and 

 very free. The large pink 

 flowersopen somewhat earlier 

 than those of the common 

 Almond. 



This is a small tree and one of 

 the earliest to bloom ; the 

 flowers opening as early as 

 January in mild weather, 

 though the middle or end of 

 February is its usual flower- 

 ing time. The buds are not 

 injured by frost, but open 

 when the weather gets milder. 

 The leaves are broader and 

 of duller colour than those of 



