g8 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



Fruit 2-5 celled, truncate above, with 5 stones. Spiny shrub MESPILUS. 



Fruit a drupe with 1-5 included stones CRAT^GUS. 



Fruit a drupe with 3-5 half-exserted stones COTONEASTER. 



Flowers in simple clusters, petals narrow. Ripe fruit bluish-black. Leaves 

 small, finely toothed AMELANCHIER. 



PRUNUS L. 



P. spinosa L. Blackthorn. A spiny shrub, 4-8 ft. high, with nearly black 

 bark. Leaves finely serrated, oblong or broadly lanceolate, on short petioles, 

 finally glabrous beneath. Flowers white, half-inch in diameter, preceding the 

 leaves ; pedicels 1 solitary or in pairs, glabrous. Petals obovate. Drupe half 

 inch diameter, black, erect. Very variable. 



Hedges, etc., common. February- March. 



P. avium L. = Cerasus avium Mcench. Cherry. A tree, with short, stout, 

 rigid branches. Leaves large, drooping, pale green, oblong-obovate, acutely 

 serrate, pubescent beneath ; petiole long. Flowers homogamous, in clusters of 

 2-6, corolla open, petals flaccid, almost obcordate. Fruit sweet or bitter, with 

 red staining juice. 



Woods in Alpes-Marit., not common. April-May. 



P. Mahal eh L. = Cerasus Mahaleb Mill. Shrub 3-12 ft. high, much 

 branched. Leaves rather leathery, ovate-cordate, acuminate, serrate, bright 

 green, glabrous and shining. Flowers white, 4-8 in small erect corymbs, rather 

 leafy at base. Fruit subglobular, as large as a pea, finally black, bitter, and acid. 



Mountain woods, especially on limestone, rather rare. April-May. 



SPIR/EA L. 



S. Pilipendula L. Dropwort. Herbaceous, 1-2 ft. high. Fibrous roots 

 with a few oblong tubers. Leaves interruptedly pinnate, chiefly radical, glabrous ; 

 leaflets numerous, almost pinnatifid, deeply cut, serrate, gradually smaller 

 towards base of leaf. Cymes loose panicled. Flowers white, rosy outside, 

 homogamous. Carpels pubescent, 2-ovuled. 



Mountain woods and pastures, on limestone chiefly. May-June. 



S. Ulmaria L. Meadow-Sweet. Herbaceous, leafy, 2-4 ft. high. Leaves 

 interruptedly pinnate, serrate, white and downy beneath, segments ovate or 

 broadly lanceolate, terminal segment large, acutely 3-lobed. Cymes corymbose, 

 very compound. Flowers creamy-white, proterandrous. 



Meadows and damp places in the mountain region of Alpes-Marit. June- 

 July. 



S. Aruncus L. A handsome plant about 3 ft. high with feathery white 

 inflorescence. Leaves very large, often a foot long, triangular in outline, 2-3 

 pinnatisect, with opposite petioled segments and doubly toothed margins. 

 No stipules. Flowers white, very small, sessile in large elongated panicles. 



Mountain woods, gorges, etc., in Alpes-Marit. June-July. 



RUBUS L. BRAMBLE. 



In the Var, as well as on the littoral of les Alpes-Marit., there are not 

 many kinds of Ruhi. Apart from R. saxatllis, Idaeus, and ccesius (the two 

 former in the mountains only) there are only two species of first-class rank, viz. 

 R. Ulmifolius Schott and R. tomentosus Borck. These two hybridise freely 

 with R. cassius. R. dumetorum Weihe is another good species found here 

 and there on the coast and lower mountain region of Liguria, neanSan Remo, etc. 



R. Ulmifolius Schott = R. discolor W. et N. part. Barren stems more or 

 less procumbent, channelled, glaucous plum-coloured, armed with robust, hooked 

 prickles. Leaves green and glabrescent above, white-tomentose beneath, of 5 

 leaflets, slightly toothed, the terminal one obovate, suddenly acuminate. Flower- 

 ing branch angular. Sepals tomentose, reflexed. Petals bright pink, suborbicu- 

 lar, crinkled. Styles pink. Polymorphic. 



Woods, borders of fields, and hedges, common. June-August. 



