EOSACE^. 185 



affinity with tlie true Laurel of the ancients, which is our Bay-tree (Laurtts 

 nobilis). The Mahaleb {P. MahaleV) and the P. semperflorens, both from 

 the continent of Europe, are also frequently to be met with ia our shrub- 

 beries. The Apricot is another Primus (P. armeniaca) ; the Almond, the 

 Peach, and the Nectarine, belong to the genus Amygdalus, only diiFering 

 from Prunus in the wrinkled siu-face of the stone. 



1. Blackthorn Prunus. Prunus communis, Huds. 

 (P. spinosa, Eng. Bot. t. 842, and P. insitilia, Eng. Bot. t. 841. BlacTc- 



thorn or Sloe.) 



In the common, truly wild state, this is a much branched shrub, the 

 smaller branches often ending in a stout thorn. Leaves ovate or oblong, 

 stalked, and finely toothed, usually glabrous, but occasionally, especially the 

 under sides as well as the young shoots, more or less downy. Flowers 

 small, white, nearly sessUe, soHtary or in pairs, appearing " before the 

 leaves. Fruit small, globular or shortly ovoid, nearly black, with a bluish 

 bloom. 



In hedges, thickets, and open woods, common in Europe and in Eussian 

 and central Asia. Abundant in Britain. Fl. early spring. A variety of 

 a somewhat taller growth, and less thorny, with the leaves rather more 

 downy, and the fruit rather more oblong and less acrid, has been distin- 

 guished under the name of P. in^ititia. It is more abundant and mora 

 marked in south-eastern Em-ope and central Asia than with us. The Bul- 

 laee, the Damson, and the numerous varieties of Plum, of our gardens, 

 although growing into thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the 

 Blackthorn, produced by long cultivation ; they wUl occasionally sow them- 

 selves, and may be found apparently wUd in the neighbourhood of gardens 

 and orchards, retaining their arborescent character. Some botanists dis- 

 tinguish these varieties as a species, under the name of P. domestica (Eng. 

 Bot. t. 1783). 



2. Cherry Prunus. Prunus Cerasus, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 706, and Suppl. t. 2863.) 



The Cherry, when wild, is often a mere shi-ub of 6 or 8 feet, throwing 

 out suckers from its creeping roots, or rhizomes ; but in cultivation, and 

 often, also, in a really wild state, it will form a tree of considerable size. 

 Stipules narrow, often toothed aud glandular, but very deciduous. Leaves 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, and toothed, 2 to 4 inches long, usually with 1 or 

 2 glands at the top of the stalk or on the edge of the blade, near the base ; 

 but they are sometimes wanting on the same specimen. Flowers white, on 

 pedicels from 1 to 2 inches long, in bimches of 2, 3, or more, issuing' to- 

 gether from leafless buds, surrounded by browTi scales, of which the inner 

 ones often become green and leaf-hke at the tips. Fruit globular and 

 smooth, red or black, usually without bloom. 



In woods, thickets, and hedgerows, in central and southern Europe and 

 temperate Asia, extending northwards into Scandinavia, but has been in so 

 many places introduced by cultivation, that its precise limits can scarcely 

 be fixed. Generally dispersed over England, Ireland, and southern Scot- 

 land, but in many cases not truly indigenous. Fl. spring. There are 

 several more or less permanent varieties in cultivation, which are variously 

 distributed by different botanists into several species, of which the P. avium, 

 for the tree variety, without suckers, and P. Cerasus for the shrubby form, 



e2 



