706 



AKBORKTUM AND FKUTlCKTr.M. 



PART III 



4H 



416 



415 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves ovate, acuminated, gla- 

 brous, shining. Peduncles solitary. Lobes 

 of calyx shorter than the tube. (Don's Mill., 

 ii. p. 514.) A shrub, somewhat tender, grow- 

 ing 3 ft. or 4ft. high, with numerous, slender, 

 purplish or brownish red twigs, which are 

 covered with a profusion of pale blush-co- 

 loured flowers, from March to May. It was 

 introduced from China about 1834, or earlier, 

 by John Reeves, Esq. (Bot. Reg., t. 1801.) 

 The figure in the Botanical Register is from 

 a plant which was grown in a green-house; 

 and ours is from one which flowered in the 

 open garden, which will account for the dif- 

 ference in their appearance. 



j. 2 multiplex Ser. ^mygdalus pumila Lin. Mant., 74., Bot. Mag., t. 2176., and of 

 the Hammersmith and other nurseries; and our Jigs. 415, and 41G. Flowers semi- 

 double, pink like those of the species. 



There are two shrubs in British nurseries often confounded 

 together under the name of A pumila ; the one is that now 

 described, which may be known at any season by the pur- 

 plish or brownish red colour of the bark of its young 

 shoots ; and, in summer, by its glabrous, 

 finely serrated leaves, which have a red- 

 dish tinge on their margins, and on the 

 midribs. The other, C. sinensis de- 

 scribed below, the Prunus japonica of 

 Ker, and of the Hammersmith and other 

 nurseries, may be known in the winter 

 season by the light green or greyish 

 colour of the bark of its young shoots ; 

 by its larger, paler-coloured, and com- 

 paratively rugose leaves, doubly or 

 coarsely serrated ; and by its more com- 

 pact habit of growth. The flowers of 

 this sort are also on longer peduncles, 

 resembling those of a cherry; while 

 those of C. japonica multiplex, the .Jmy'gdalus pumila, or double dwarf almond of the 

 nurseries, have much shorter peduncles, and are sometimes nearly sessile, giving the 

 plant more the appearance of a Prunus than that of a Cerasus. The C. japonica mul- 

 tiplex has been in cultivation in British gardens, under the name of yiinygdalus pumila, 

 since the days of Bishop Compton ; and, though it is stated in books to have been in- 

 troduced from Africa, there can be little doubt of its being of Asiatic origin. The 

 great confusion which exists respecting these two plants, in botanical works, has in- 

 duced us to examine, with particular attention, the plants of them that are in the Hor- 

 ticultural Society's Garden, and in the Hammersmith Nursery. In the former garden, 

 there is at this time (June 10th, 1837) Cerasus japonica in its single state, but not in 

 its double state ; the plant bearing the name of C. japonica fibre pleno being unques- 

 tionably the C. sinensis described below, the Prunus japonica of the nurseries. In the 

 Hammersmith Nursery, there are some dozens of plants of C. japonica multiplex, there 

 called //mygdalus pumila, or the double dwarf almond, growing in parallel nursery 

 lines, with some dozens of plants of C. sinensis, there called Prunus japonica, or the 

 double Chinese almond. We have considered it necessary to be thus particular, to 

 justify us for having deviated from the Bot. Mag. and Bot. Reg. 



* 19. C SINE'NSIS G. Don. The Chinese Cherry. 



Identification. Don's Mill., 2. p. 514. 



St/nonyme. Prunus japonica Ker in Bot. Reg., t. 27- 



Engravings. Bot. Reg., t. 27. ; and our fig. 417. 



Spec. Char. , 8fc. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, doubly serrated, 

 wrinkled from veins beneath. Peduncles sub-aggregate. 

 (Don's Mill., ii. p. 514.) There is no single state of this 

 species in Britain, but there is a plant of the double va- 

 riety against a wall in the Horticultural Society's Gar- 

 den, named (June, 1836) C. japonica fibre plgno; and, as 

 noticed under the preceding sort, there are many plants 

 in the Hammersmith Nursery, under the name of P. 

 japonica, or the double Chinese almond. A highly or- 

 namental shrub, which, like the preceding sort, grows to 

 the height of 3ft. or 4ft., and is profusely covered with 

 flowers, which appear about the end of April, and con- 

 tinue throughout May. The plant is somewhat more 

 tender than C. j. multiplex, which is well known in gar- 

 dens as a hardy border shrub; and, except in favour- 

 able situations, it requires to be planted against a wall. 

 Flowers semi-double, with the petals red on the upper 

 side, arid white on the under. Though this and the 

 preceding sort are quite distinct, there is nothing in 

 that distinctness, as it appears to us, to determine that 

 they are not varieties of the same species. Plants, in the 

 London nurseries, of this and the preceding sort, are 

 1*. 6d. each ; at Bollwyller, 1 franc. C. japonica, in its 

 single state, has scarcely yet been propagated for sale. 



417 



