688 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III 



Spec. Char., $c. Branches spineless. Flowers mostly solitary. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate-ovate, concave on the surface, not flat. Spontaneous in elevated 

 places of the more southern parts of Europe. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 533.) In 

 England, found sometimes in hedges, but never truly wild. A tree, from 

 15ft. to 20ft. in height, resembling the common sloe, but larger in all its 

 parts, and without thorns. There are numerous varieties and subvarieties ; 

 but, as they belong more to pomology than to arboriculture, we shall here 

 only notice those that have some pretensions to distinctness in an orna- 

 mental point of view. 



*t P. d. 2 flore plena Hort. The double-blossomed Plum. The flowers 

 are large and handsome; but, if the plants are not carefully supplied 

 with abundance of nourishment, they very readily degenerate into 

 semidouble, or single ones. 



If P. d. 3 foliis variegatis Hort. The variegated-leaved Plum. There 

 are few of the variegated-leaved J?osaceae of any beauty ; and this 

 plant forms no exception to the general remark. 



*t P. d. 4 myrobalana Lin. Sp., 680. P. Myrobalan Du Ham. Arb., ii. p. 1 1 1 . 

 t. 2. f. 15. ; P. mirobalana Lois. ; P. cerasifera Ehrh. Beitr., 4. p. 1 7. ; 

 Prunier myrobalan, or Cerisette, Fr.; Kirschpflaume, Ger. The 

 Myrobalan, or Cherry, Plum. (See our plate in Vol. II.) Sepals 

 narrow. Fruit globose, depressed at the base ; umbilicus depressed ; 

 nut with a small point. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 533.) This sort well deserves 

 culture as an ornamental tree, on account of its very early flow- 

 ering. In England, it seldom produces fruit, as the blossoms, 

 being more tender than those of the sloe, and appearing earlier 

 than those of the fruit-bearing varieties, are generally injured by 

 the frost. It is by some supposed to be a native of North Ameri- 

 ca ; but, according to Pursh, it is only found in that country near 

 houses. 



t P. d. 5 m. foliis variegatis N. Du Ham. The variegated-leaved Myro- 

 balan, or Cherry, Plum. 



ZP.d.Garmenioides'Ser. The Apricot-like Plum, or Drap d' Or. The 

 leaves, the fruit, and the general habit of the plant bear some re- 

 semblance to those of ylrmeniaca brigantiaca. 



Description, History, Sf-c. The myrobalan plum tree appears to be the 

 first remove from /'runus insitf tia ; and the apricot-like plum seems interme- 

 diate between the wild plum and the wild apricot. The varieties cultivated 

 for their fruit have, in general, much larger leaves, and stronger young shoots, 

 than the other sorts ; they flower later, their blossoms are larger, and their 

 fruit, particularly such sorts as the magnum bonum and the diamond plum, 

 several times as large; the latter being upwards of 2^ in. long. These fruit- 

 bearing varieties are in universal cultivation in temperate climates ; and for 

 every thing of interest relating to them, as such, we refer to our Encyclo- 

 pedia of Gardening, edit. 1835, p. 920. Those varieties which deserve cul- 

 ture as ornamental trees are considered, by Mr. Thompson of the Horticul- 

 tural Society's Garden, to be, the red magnum bonum, which has a fastigiate 

 habit of growth ; the Washington, which is a vigorous-growing tree, with a 

 pyramidal head, and is a great bearer of fruit of excellent quality ; and the 

 wheat plum, which deserves a place in ornamental plantations for its bright 

 fiery red-coloured fruit. The wood of the plum tree is hard, close, coin- 

 pact, beautifully veined, and susceptible of a fine polish. It weighs, when dry, 

 55 Ib. 14 oz. to the cubic foot. Its colour is brought out by washing it with 

 lime-water, and it is preserved by the application of wax as a varnish. In 

 France and Germany, it is much sought after by cabinetmakers and turners, and 

 also by musical instrument makers. The leaves are eaten by cattle ; but both 

 the leaves and the flowers are extremely liable to be attacked by insects, more 

 especially in spring, from the hatching of the eggs which had been deposited 

 in the buds, or on the bark, during the preceding season. 



Properties and Uses. The use of the fruit in domestic economy, in Britain, 



