PRJNUS DOMESTICA-PLUM TREE, 



CLASS, IC03ANDRIA ; ORDER, MONOGVNIA. 



NATURAL ORDER, ROSACEJB. H V M 1 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx five cleft, inferior. Petals five. Drupe with 

 a nut, having the sutures prominent. SPEC. CHAR. Peduncles sub- 

 solitary. Leaves lanceolate ovate, convoluted. Branches without 

 thorns. 



In England this tree has received the emblem of the words KEEP 

 YOUR PROMISES, as it is every year covered with an immense quan- 

 tity of flowers, but unless a great deal of care is taken with it, and 

 pruned by the hands of an able gardener of all its superfluous wood 

 it will only yield fruit once in three years, and then but in an incon- 

 siderable proportion to its blossoms. Our own country, however, 

 is much more highly favored in this respect, and as a general rule 

 it grants all that we require. 



This tree, the general ap-pearance of which is too well known to 

 need description, came originally from the East; it was brought 

 from Syria into Greece ; from thence taken to Italy and in the pro- 

 cess of time spread over the world. Our own country furnishes 

 very few fruit trees ; those of Africa are little known and imperfectly 

 cultivated; Europe like ourselves, owes them to importation, and 

 we must consequently look to the East for our choicest as well as 

 common kinds ; an additional proof that it deserves the name of 



Garden of the World. Nearly one hundred varieties of this tree 

 D 



