124 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



A tree or slivub generally 10 to 20 feet high, with smooth pur- 

 plish-brown bark. Leaves shortly stalked, 2 to 4 inches long, 

 unequal and generally su!)cordate at the base, much more finely 

 and sharply serrated than in any of the preceding, glabrous except 

 in the axils of the lateral veins beneath. Stipules linear, fringed, 

 deciduous. Racemes 3 to 5 inches long, with a few leaves at the 

 base. Flowers white, f inch across, very numerous, on short erect 

 pedicels, |^ to f inch long. Calyx very open at the mouth, with 

 reflexed deltoid fringed segments. Petals roundish-ovate, arose. 

 Fruit I inch long, black, bitter ; stone sub-globose, uneven. 



Bird Cherry. 



French, Prunier h Grappes. German, Aldhirsche. 



The Bird Cherry is a small tree with long pendulous racemes of white flowers, 

 opening in May. It grows well in woods, groves, and fields, on a dry soil, but it ia 

 more abundant in the northern than in the southern counties. The fruit is small, 

 black, and austere ; but, though bitter and unpleasant when eaten, it is used in Scot- 

 land to give flavour to gin, wliiskey, and other spirits. Birds relish the fruit greatly ; 

 hence its common name ; and caterpillars are said to attack the leaves of this tree more 

 than those of any other of the genus. In Belgium, where the tree is particularly 

 abundant in the woods, and where caterpillars are collected at certain seasons, in con- 

 formity with the provincial laws established for the preservation of forests, this tree is 

 always found to have sufiered mo.st from their depredations. Hence, a writer in a 

 Belgian agricultural journal recommends planting in orchards one Bird Cherry in every 

 square of 100 or 200 yards, to which tree, he s;iy3, all the moths and butterflies will be 

 attracted, and on which they will lay their eggs. The appearance of the Bird Cherry, 

 he says, will soon become hideous, but the fruit-trees will be safe. 



A decoction of Bird Cherries is astringent, and has been used successfully in 

 medicine. The leaves yield a quantity of Prussic acid by distillation. When the tree 

 attains a sufficient size, the wood is valuable, being beautifully veined, and is much 

 sought after in France by cabinet-makers and turners, who increase the beauty of it8 

 markings by sawing the trunk diagonally instead of parallel with its length. 



Sub-Order II.— ROSEiE. 



Herbs or shrubs, with simple or compound leaves. Stipules 

 adhering to the petiole, persistent. Calyx inferior (free from the 

 ovary), persistent or more rarely the segments deciduous. Petals 

 yellow, white, pink, or red. Stamens indefinite or definite. Carpels 

 free, distinct, usually numerous, rarely reduced to 2 or 1, each 

 carpel containing 1, 2, or more ovules. Styles often lateral. Fruit 

 composed of distinct achenes, which are usually dry, often numerous, 

 and arranged upon a conical, hemispherical, or rarely an excavated 

 receptacle, more rarely of a number of small drupes cohering toge- 

 ther, or of several dehiscent follicles. 



