278 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



3. Heaumiers, the Helmet-shaped Cherries (C. Julian var. heaumiana Dec), 



somewhat resembling the bigarreaii, but with less firm flesh. 

 Variety of this race used for ornaniental purposes. 



t C. s. durdcina 2 flore plena Hort., the double flowered wild black 



Cherry ; Merisier a Fleurs doubles, or Merisier Renunculier, Fr. ; 



is a very beautiful variety, known, in the garden of the Hort. Soc, 



as the double French white. 



4, Bigarreautiers, the Bigarreaus, or hard-fleshed Cherries (C. duracinn Dec.) 



with white, flesh-coloured, and black fruit, generally heart-shaped. 





447. C^rasxis sylv^stris. : 



The colour of the fruit of the wild species is a very deep dark red, or | 

 black ; the flesh is of the same colour, small in quantity, austere and bitter i 

 before it comes to maturity, and insipid when the fruit is perfectly ripe. The 

 nut is oval or ovate, like the fruit, firmly adhering to t'le flesh, and very large 

 in proportion to the size of the fruit. The juice is mostly coloured ; and the j 

 skin does not separate from the flesh. 



'i 2. C. vuLGA^Ris Aim. The common Cherry Tree. 



Identification. Mill. Diet., No. 1. ; N. Du Ham., 5. p. 18. ^ j 



Syno7iymes and Garden Names. Cerasus avium Mcench ; Priinus Cerasus Lin. Sp. 679. ; C. hor- | 

 tensis Pers. Syn. 2. p. 34. ; C. capronidna Dec. Prod. 2. p. 536., Don's Mill. 2. p. 507. ; P. . 

 austera and P. acida Elir. Beitr. 7. p. 129. and 130.; P. Cerasus var. E7ig. Flor. 2. p. 354.; Cherry, ' 

 Kentish or Flemish Cherry, Morello, May Duke ; Cerise de Montmorency, Cerise de Paris, j 

 Cerise k Fruits ronds, Cerisier du Nord, Cerisier, and Griottier in some provinces, Fr. ; Saure i 

 Kirsche, Gcr. ; Marasca, or Ciliegio, Ital. \ 



Derivation. Caproiiidna is said to be derived from capron, the hautbois strawberry, probably from j 

 this cherry possessing so much more flavour than C. sylvestris. Morello is either from morel 

 {Morcktlla esculenta), the flesh being of the same consistency as the flesh of that fungus ; or, 

 perhaps, from the French word morelle, a female negro. May Duke is a corruption of Midor, 

 the province of France where the variety is supposed to have been originated. Griottier is said | 

 to be derived from aigreur, sourness, or sharpness, and applied to this cherry from the acidity of 

 its fruit. 



E7igravings. Eng. Bot., t. 706. ; Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vi., as Cerasus avium ; and out Jig. 448. 



Spec. Char., cfc. Tree small, branches spreading." Flowers in .subsessile um- 

 bels, not numerous. Leaves oval-lanceolate, toothed, glabrous. A decidu- 

 ous tree. Europe and Britain, in gardens and plantations. Height 30 ft. to 

 40 ft. Flowers white ; May. Drupe red ; ripe in July. Decaying leaves 

 red and yellow. 



Varieties. There are numerous cultivated varieties, which are classed by i 

 Loiseleur in the Noiiveau Du Hamel in three f^roups, including in the fiist 



