AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



355 



PRU 



beauty, but this beauty will be increased, and 

 it will be full of flowers the next year. After 

 the branches of large shrubs have been 

 thinned out, stronger shoots should be 

 pinched back with the thumb and finger, for 

 this will hasten the growth of flowering-buds. 

 Many trees and shrubs can be made to pro- 

 duce flowers and fruit at a smaller size than 

 if they were left to themselves or pruned only 

 in the winter or spring. This summer pinch- 

 ing also helps to ripen up the wood, and leaves 

 it in good condition to withstand the cold. 

 Apples, Peaches, Plums, Filberts, and many 

 other trees can be made to bear when quite 

 small if the new growth is stopped once or 

 twice in the summer. While trees are grow- 

 ing vigorously the flower-buds do not form 

 well, but by this summer pinching the flow of 

 the sap is checked and the buds are developed. 

 As to the time of pruning, about which there 

 has been much discussion, it may be done on 

 small stems at any time after the fall of the 

 leaf, before the growth starts in the spring ; 

 but for the removal of large branches, late in 

 winter is regarded as the best time. It is a 

 popular idea that trees should not be pruned 

 in excessively cold weather, a very sensible 

 belief, as affecting the comfort of the pruner; 

 but rest assured, it in no way adds to the 

 discomfort of the tree, either present or pro- 

 spective. Another popular fallacy is that 

 Grape Vines and similar vigorous plants are 

 injured by loss of sap by being pruned late in 

 spring. We have repeatedly pruned vines 

 when the sap run from them in streams, with- 

 out any apparent injury, though of course it 

 might be better to prune before the sap 

 begins to run. 



Pruno'psis Lindleyi. A synonym of Prunus 

 trilobata. 



Prunus. The ancient Latin name of the Plum. 

 Nat. Ord. Rosacecs. 



This genus, as arranged by Bentham and 

 Hooker, includes the Plum, Cherry, Almond, 

 etc., but which, for easy reference, we have 

 described separately. The species are ever- 

 green or deciduous, hardy trees, or shrubs, 

 mostly natives of the temperate regions of 

 the Northern Hemisphere, a few being found 

 in tropical America and Asia. They may be 

 increased readily by seeds, and the many va- 

 rieties now in cultivation, by budding or graft- 

 ing. P. cerasifera is well adapted for hedges, 

 as is also the Black-thorn or Sloe. 



The Myrobalan Plum is one of the plants 

 which has most puzzled botanists, as, al- 

 though it has been in cultivation for cen- 

 turies, it is nowhere known in a wild state. 

 It is probably a variety or form of the com- 

 mon Plum (P. domestica). It is rarely seen in 

 -our gardens, although now that the purple- 

 leaved Persian variety, P. Pissardi, is so 

 generally grown, one form of it at least will 

 be in cultivation. The latter variety is a 

 most ornamental sort, and is exceedingly 

 effective when planted with light-colored, or 

 yellow - leaved shrubs. The green -leaved 

 plant is far the handsomer of the two, how- 

 ever, when the trees are in bloom, as the 

 leaves, which are about half-grown when the 

 flowers are fully expanded, make a charming 

 and effective setting for them, and afford 

 what most fruit-trees lack when in flower 

 a contrast of colors. The fruit is small, 



PSE 



depressed-globular, scarlet or yellow, and of 

 little value except for the handsome appear- 

 ance which it presents as it hangs upon the 

 branches. The Myrobalan is one of the best 

 early flowering trees to plant in a small gar- 

 den or on a lawn ; it is, moreover, less liable 

 to be injured by borers than the purple- 

 leaved Prunus Pixsardi. 



The double-flowered variety of P. sinensis, is 

 a very desirable and early-flowering shrub, as 

 is also its congener, P. trilobata. 



Prurient. Stinging ; causing an itching sensa- 

 tion. 



Fsa'mma. From psammos, sand ; alluding to 

 the use to which the species are put. Nat. 

 Ord. GrraminacecB. 



A small genus of hardy grasses. P. arenaria 

 has strong perennial creeping root-stocks, 

 and is often planted on the sea-coast to pre- 

 vent the sand being removed by wind or 

 tides. 



Psammi'sia. Named after Psammis, a king 

 of Egypt, B. C. 376. Nat. Ord. Vacciniacece. 



A genus of shrubs, sometimes epiphytal, 

 natives of South America. The flowers are 

 large, frequently scarlet, and disposed in 

 axillary racemes or corymbs. Most authors 

 consider the species of this genus to form part 

 of the genus Thibaudia. 



Pseudo-bulb. A stem having the appearance of 

 a bulb, but not its structure ; seen in the 

 thickened, above-ground stem of many Or- 

 chids. 



Fseu'dodraco'ntium. From pseudo, false, and 

 Dracontium ; in allusion to its resemblance to 

 that plant. Nat. Ord. Aroidece. 



A small genus of tropical tuberous herbs, 

 natives of Cochin China. P. Lacourii, intro- 

 duced in 1879, has trisected leaves, the seg- 

 ments being cut or pinnate, spotted and 

 mottled with yellow. Syn. Amorphophallus 

 Lacourii. 



Pseu'dola'rix. False or Chinese Larch ; Golden 

 Larch. From pseudo, false,, and Larix, the 

 Larch, which it resembles. Nat. Ord. Coni- 

 ferce. 



P. Kczmpferi, the only species, is a noble, 

 hardy tree, introduced from China in 1777. 

 It forms a beautiful ornamental tree, the 

 leaves being light-green when young, but 

 becoming golden-yellow in autumn. It is 

 distinguished from the Larch by the cones 

 having deciduous scales with divergent points. 

 Syn. Larix Koempferi. 



Fseu'dopa'nax. A small genus of Araliacece, 

 represented by a few New Zealand and Chilian 

 species of shrubby habit, with digitate or sim- 

 ple leaves, grown for their ornamental char- 

 acter. P. crassifolium, is known in cultivation 

 as Aralia crassifolium, and the well-known 

 Aralia trifoliata, is now called P. Lessonii. 



Pseu'dotsu'ga. From pseudo, false, and Tsuga, 

 the Japanese name, Nat. Ord. ConiferaB. 



P. Douglasii, the Red Fir, Yellow Fir, Ore- 

 gon Pine, and Douglas Fir, is the most gener- 

 ally distributed and valuable timber tree of 

 the Pacific region, growing from the sea-level 

 to an elevation in Colorado of nearly 10,000 

 feet, often forming extensive forests, almost 

 to the exclusion of other species, and reaching 

 in western Oregon and Washington Territory 

 its greatest development and value. The 

 wood is hard, strong, durable, and hard to 



