xx\i. rosjCceje: ^rmeni'aca, 271 



Many of the species are spinj' in a wild state ; most of tliem bear edible 

 fruits; and all of them have showy blossoms. In British gardens, they are 

 chiefly propagated by grafting, but some of them by layers ; and they will grow 

 in any soil that is tolerably free, and not overcharged with moisture, but a cal- 

 careous soil is found best. Tiie epidermis of the bark of the plimi, as well as 

 that of the cherry, and perhaps that of some of the other genera of ^Jm} gdaleae, 

 is readily divisible transversely, and may frequently be .-een divided in this 

 manner into rings on the tree. 



t ]. P. SPiNO^SA L. The spiny Plum Tree, or common Sloe Thorn. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 3. 681. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 532. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 4!(8. , 



Synonyvies. P. sylvtstris Fuch. Hist. p. 404., Eay Syn. p. 462. ; Blackthorn ; Pninier epineux, 

 Pniiifliier, E'pine noire, or Mere-du-Bois, Fr. ; Schleadorn, or Schlen Pliaum, Ger. ; Prugno, or 

 Prunello, Ital. 



Engravings. Vahl Fl. Dan., t. 926. ; the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. v. ; and our fig. 437. 



Derivt lion The name of Mere-du-Bois is applied to the sloe thorn in France, in the nei^'hhourliood 

 of Montargis, because it has been remarked there, that, when it was established on the margins of 

 woods, its underground shoots, and the suckers which sprang up from them, had a constant ten- 

 dency to extend the wood over the adjoining fields. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Branches spiny. Leaves obovate, elliptical, or ovate ; downy 

 beneath, doubly and sharply toothed. Flowers produced before tiie leaves 

 or with them, white, and solitary. Calyx campanulate; with lobes blunt, 

 and longer than the tube. Fruit globo.se; the flesh austere. {Dec. Prod.) 

 A low tree or shrub. Europe from Upsal to Naples, and the West of 

 Asia and North of Africa. Height 10 ft. to 15 ft. Flowers white; March 

 and April. Drupe black ; ripe in October. 



Vaiieties. 



i P. s. 1 vulgaris Ser. P. spinosa Z/OW. (N. Du Ham., 5. p. 18.5. t. .5+. 

 f. 1.) Leaves obovate-elliptical. Fruit dark purple. This maybe 

 considered as the normal form of the species. 



5 P. s. 2 fo/iis variegdtis Ser. Found wild ; but a plant of no beauty. 



'E P. 5. 3 vucTocarpa Wallr. (Exs. Cent. 1. No. 45.) Leaves elliptic, 

 narrow, bluntish. Fruit smaller than that of the species. 



Y P. s. 4 viacrocdrpa Wallr. (Exs. Cent. 1. No. 45.) Leaves obovate, 

 bluntish. Fruit large, dark purple. This has been found wild in 

 Germany ; but Seringe doubts whether it be not identical with P. 

 domestica Juliana, or with P. insititia. 



^ P. *. 5 ovdta Ser. (Blackw. Herb., t. 494.) Leaves ovate, roundish. 



t P. s. Q flare plcno. This is a very beautiful variety, said to be in cul- 

 tivation, and highly prized, in China and Japan ; and also found wild 

 some years ago at Tarascon. The flowers are white, and are pro- 

 duced in such abundance as to entirely cover the branches. 



The sloe, or blackthorn, is much more frequently seen as a large spin}' shrub, 

 than as a tree; but, when the suckers are removed from it, and all the strength 

 of the plant is allowed to go into one stem, it forms a small scrubby tree of the 

 most characteristic kind. The stems of the sloe diifer from those of the haw- 

 thorn, in growing to the height of 3 or 4 feet before they branch off'. The 

 bark is black, whence the name of blackthorn ; and the leaves are dark green. 

 The roots are creeping, and, in every soil and situation, throw up numerous 

 ' suckers : so much so, that a single plant, in a favourable soil, would cover an 

 acre of ground in a very few years. In hedges, in Britain, it is seldom seen 

 j above 20 ft. in height ; but in woods and in parks, as single trees, we have setn 

 it above 30 ft. high : for example, in Eastwell Park, in Kent. The wood is 

 I hard, and in colour resembles that of the peach, though without its beauty ; it 

 takes a fine polish ; but it is so apt to crack, that little use can be made of it, 

 except for handles for tools, teeth for hay-rakes, swingles for flails, and 

 walking-sticks. The wood weighs, when dry, nearly 52 lb. per cubic foot. 

 The branches, from being less spreading than those of the common hawthorn, 

 make better dead hedges than those of that species ; and, for the same reason, 

 they are particularly well adapted for forming guards to the stems of trees 



