

CHAP. XLII. HOSA*CEJE. CE'RASUS. 



by Loiseleur in the Nouveau l)u Ilaincl. We shall slightly notice the groups 

 included in the \ouvcau Du Haincl, under each species ; we shall afterwards 

 give a list kindly furnished to us by Mr. Thompson of the London Horti- 

 cultural Society's Garden, of the kinds of both species which he thinks most 

 deserving of culture as ornamental trees ; and our description, history, &c., will 

 comprehend both species, and the races and varieties belonging to them. 

 The arrangement of the varieties, and general culture of the cherry in the 

 kitchen-garden and orchard, will be found at length in our Encyclopedia of 

 Gardening ; and, in a more condensed form, in our Suburban Gardener. 



1. C. SYLVE'STRIS Bauh. and Ray. The wild black-fruited Cherry Tree. 



Identification. Bauh. Hist, 1. L 2. p. 220. ; Ray Hist., 1539. ; Pers. Syn. 2. p. 35. 



Synonymes and Garden Names. C. avium Mccnch Meth., 672., Dec. Fl. Fr., No. 3786., Dec. Prod., 

 2. p. 535., Lois, in N. Du Ham., 5. p. 10., Don's Mill., 2. p. 505. ; C. nlgra Mill. Diet., No. 2., not of 

 Ait, Ger. Em., 1505. ; Prunus avium Lin. Sp., 680. ; P. avium var. and (3, IVilld. Baum., ed. 2. 

 p. 308. ; P. nigricans, and P. varia Ehr. Beitr., 1. p. 125,127.; Gean, Bigarreau, Corone, Coroon, Small 

 Black, Black Hertfordshire, Black Heart, Black Mazzard, the Merry Tree of the Cheshire peasants, 

 the Merries in Suffolk ; Merisier, Merisegrosse noire, Guignier, Bigarreautier, Heaumier, Fr. ; 

 Siissc Kirsche, Ger. 



Derivation. This cherry is called Corone, or Coroon, in some parts of England, from corone, a crow, in 

 reference toils blackness. Merry Tree and Merries are evidently corruptions of the word Mtirisier ; 

 and Merisier is said to be derived from the words amere, bitter, and cerise, cherry. Bigarreau is 

 derived (rombigarree party-coloured, because the cherries known by this name are generally of two 

 colours, yellow and red ; and Heaumier is from the French word heaume, a helmet, from the 

 shape of the fruit 



Spec. C/iar., fyc. Branches vigorous and divaricate ; the buds from which the 

 fruits are produced, oblong-acute. Flowers in umbel-like groups, sessile, 

 not numerous. Leaves oval-lanceolate, pointed, serrated, somewhat pen- 

 dent, slightly pubescent on the under side, and furnished with two glands at 

 the base. (Dec. Prod,, and Nouveau Du Hamel.} The colour of the fruit is 

 a very deep dark red, or black ; the flesh is of the same colour, small in 

 quantity, austere and bitter 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 the flesh, and very large in proportion to the size of the fruit. 

 The juice is mostly coloured; and the skin does not separate from the 

 flesh. A tree, a native of Europe, found in woods and hedges ; very dwarf 

 in unfavourable soils and climates, but growing to the height of 40 ft. or 

 50ft., or upwards, in dry fertile soils. The flowers are produced in April, 

 and the fruit ripens in June or July. Under this species are included, in 

 the Nouveau Du Hamel, the following races or groups : 



1. Merisiers, or Merries, with black or yellow fruit. 



2. Guigniers, or Geans (C. Juliana Dec*), with red or black fruit, early or 

 late, and including th e tobacco-lea vedguignier, or gean, of 4 to the pound 

 (the C. decumana of Delauny). 



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

 somewhat resembling the bigarreau, but with less firm flesh. 



Variety of this race used for ornamental purposes. 



C> s. durdcina 2 flare plcno 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 London Horti- 

 cultural Society, as the double French white. The tree there, in 

 1835, was upwards of 20ft. high, after having been 10 years planted, 

 i. Bigarreautiers, the Bigarreau, or hard-fleshed Cherries, (C. duracina Dec.) 

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



If 2. C. VULGA^RIS Mill. The common Cherry Tree. 



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



Svnonvmes and Garden Names. Prdnus Ct'rasus Lin. Sp., 679. ; C. hortt!nsis Pers. Sun. 2. p. 34 ; C. 



ruiiruniana Dec. Fl. Fr., 4. p. 482., Dec. Prod., 2. p. 53(5., Don's Mill., 2. p. 507. ; P. austeraandP. 



fecida Klirh. Beit r.,1. p. 129. and 130.; Cherry, Kentish or Flemish Cherry, Morello, May Duke ; 



(Yii-e de Montmorenoy, Cerise de Paris, Cerise a Fruits ronds, Cerisier du Nord, Cerisier, and 



Griottier in some provinces, Fr. ; saure Kirsche, Ger. 

 Ijt-rifiition. Cufironiana is said to be derived from cn/)ron,the hautbois strawberry, probably from this 



cherry possessing so much more flavour than C. sylvi'stris. Morello is either from won / [itbftMUa 



esc-uU'iitn), 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 A/e'rfoc, the province 



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