SPRING-FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 191 



here. All are twiggy bushes of rather low stature, 

 are natives of China, and are among the earliest of 

 all shrubs to blossom. Two of these (Prunus japon- 

 ica and P. glandulosa) are very doubtfully distinct 

 as species, but the leaves are much broader in P. 

 japonica, and rounded and somewhat heart-shaped 

 at the base, whereas in P. glandulosa they are nar- 

 rowed at the base. Both are twiggy shrubs from three 

 to five feet high, and there are forms with white, 

 pink and single, or double flowers. They are old 

 inhabitants of our gardens and have long been culti- 

 vated in Japan but are not native of that country. 

 In northern and central China they are common 

 wild plants, and so, too, is P. tomentosa, also commonly 

 cultivated in Japan but not indigenous there. This, 

 likewise, is a fairly old denizen of western gardens. 

 It is a spreading, extremely hardy shrub of moderate 

 height and has red flower-stalks and calyx and pure 

 white petals which are pink in bud. The short- 

 stalked, Cherry-like fruit is scarlet, ripens in June, 

 and is very palatable. 



The last of the Prunus I shall mention and the 

 most beautiful of the four is P. triloba, also a native 

 of northern China. The double form (plena) is 

 commonly cultivated in Peking gardens and is a 

 general favorite in western gardens to which it was 



