PLUM AND CHERRY GROUP 



591 



or-r^'^aSMifcifj, 



LEAVES OF GEAN. 



leaf-stalk, near its junction with the leaf, 

 are two little red glands. The flowers 

 grow singly, each on a long stalk ; a 

 number of these stalks emanate from a 

 single point in the twig, giving to the 

 flowers a bunched appearance. At the 

 base of the flower stalks are a number of 

 membranous 

 bracts. The fruit 

 is heart-shaped. 

 This tree, like 

 the Birch, i s 

 very subject to 

 the diseased 

 growth known 

 as the ^^'itch's 

 Broom. 



THE DWARF 

 CHERRY 



This is merely 

 a bush or shrub. 

 The following 

 may be noted 

 for comparison. 

 The twigs are 

 slender an d 

 drooping. The 

 buds are smaller 

 and blunt. The 



leaf-scar is half-moon shape. The leaves- 

 are not pendent, and have shorter stalks. 

 They are harsher in texture, and their 

 autumn colouring is less varied, being 

 chiefly yellow and red. The flowers have 

 harder petals. At the base of the flower 

 stalks are some smaU gi'een leaves. The 

 fruit is globular and more juicy. 



THE BIRD CHERRY 



This is a small tree found chiefly in the 

 north. The twigs are stiff and erect. 

 The buds are large, conical, and sharply 

 pointed. They are pressed up against the 

 twigs, round which their points curl, sug- 

 gesti\-e of a continuous spiral. The bud 

 scales at the base are brown, those near 

 the tip are yellow. The leaf-scar is oval. 



The leaves are broad, elliptic, having a 

 larger side. Their surface is rough. The 

 margins are finely toothed. In autumn 

 the colour changes to greenish yellow and 

 red. The flowers grow in a tasselled spray, 

 after the manner of those of the labur- 

 num, having a central pendent stalk, with 

 numerous branches, to each of which a 

 white blossom is attached. The fruit 

 hangs by the same central stalk, and forms- 

 a cluster like a sparse bunch of small black- 

 cuiTants. Henry Irving. 



LEAVES OF BIRD CHERRY. 



