1544 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



broad, obovate-oblong or elliptic, acuminate at the apex, slightly cordate at the 

 base ; glabrous above, paler beneath with brown axil-tufts of pubescence ; lateral 

 nerves, 10 to 14 pairs, dividing and looping before reaching the margin, which is 

 finely serrate, with close serrations, each ending in a sharp cartilaginous point ; 

 petiole glabrous, slender, with 1 to 4 glands near the insertion of the blade. 



Flowers, appearing after the leaves, in racemes about 5 in. long, which have 

 usually one or two small leaves near the base ; axis, slender pedicels, and calyx 

 glabrous ; sepals glandular-fimbriate ; petals white. Fruit globose, about ^ in. 

 in diameter, without a persistent calyx, shining, blackish ; stone irregularly pitted. 



Varieties 



I. Besides the typical form described above, which has finely serrate leaves 

 and pendulous racemes, and is prevalent in the plains of central Europe, the following 

 geographical varieties are known : 



1. Var. borealis, Schneider, Laubholzkunde, i. 640 (1906). 



Var. petraa, Fiek, Fl, Schles. 119 (1881). 



Prunus borealis, Salisbury, Prod. 356 (1796); Schubeler, Pflanzen-Welt Norw. 369 (1873). 



Prunus petraa, Tausch, in Flora, xxi. 719 (1831). 



Leaves with coarser serrations. Racemes erect. This is prevalent in the 

 mountains of Silesia, Bohemia, and Transylvania, and in the Alps ; and is also the 

 wild form, which occurs in Scandinavia and the British Isles. 



2. Var. pubescens, Regel, FL C/ssur, No. 149, ex Maximowicz, in Mel. Biol. xi. 

 706 (1883). Young branchlets, under surface of the leaves, and racemes, more or 

 less covered with reddish brown pubescence. This occurs, but mixed with the 

 typical form, in Manchuria, Saghalien, and north China. 



3. Var. cornuta, Henry. 



Prunus cornuta, Steudel, Nomencl. ii. 403 (1841). 



Padus cornuta, Carrifcre, in Rev. Hort. 1869, p. 275, fig. 64. 



Cerasus cornuta, Royle, Illust. Bot. Himal. 207 (1839). 



Branchlets glabrous. Leaves rounded at the base, bluish green beneath with 

 reddish brown axil-tufts. Racemes long and, like the pedicels, pubescent. Fruit 

 large, \ to \ inch in diameter, with a smooth stone. This occurs in the Himalayas, 

 at 6000 to 12,000 feet, and is considered by Hooker 1 to be a form of P. Padus ; but 

 by Koehne and Schneider to be a distinct species. It is represented at Kew by a 

 tree 15 feet high. 



II. The following have appeared in cultivation 2 : 



4. Var. leucocarpa, Koch, Dendrologie, i. 1 20 ( 1 869). Fruit white to yellowish. 



5. Var. commutata, Dippel, Laubholzkunde, iii. 647 (1893). Flowers and leaves 

 appearing very early in the season. Said by Schneider to be from eastern Asia, 

 and to be commonly cultivated under the name of P. Grayana? 



1 Fl. Brit. India, ii. 315 (1878). 



* P. Laucheana, Bolle, in Lauche, Deut. Dend. 652 (1882) is said to be a hybrid between P. Padus and P. Virginiana ; 

 and, according to Schneider, is sometimes known in cultivation as P. Padus, var. rotundifolia. 



3 Cf. Garden and Forest, i. 295 (1888). P. Grayana, Maximowicz, in Bull. Acad. St. Petersb. xxix. 107 (1S83), is a 

 distinct Japanese species. 





