4 88 



THE CHERRY. 



the petals open out, the sepals turn back and lie flat against the 

 calyx-tube. At the next stage the stalk bends downwards, and the 

 petals, hitherto cup-shaped, spread out until they lie in one plane. 

 The form is shown in the diagram. 



The petals are pure white or tinted with the palest rose-pink, 

 the pistil is green, the stamens are white tipped with yellow. 



The fruit when ripe is red or black (Cerasus has red fruit), 

 and smaller than in the cultivated species, but, like it, smooth and 

 shining, slightly cloven and flattened into something of a heart shape. 







THE LEAF. 



In the early part of April there is still nothing to be seen of 

 the young leaf but its glossy underside. The two halves of the 

 leaf-blade are closely folded together from the central spine, and it 

 stands upright. In this position, with the straight line of the mid- 

 rib as one of its boundaries, and the full curve of the blade as the 

 other, and with its tapering point, the leaf is no less conspicuous 

 for its shape than for a highly reflective surface. This glossy 

 surface is made still more effective by the arrangement of the leaf- 

 veins, which project and prevent the blade from lying evenly in the 



