Prunus] XLVI. ROSACEA 279 



well described by Lace (Journ. Linn. Soc. xxviii. 297), petioles slender, half the length 

 of leaf or Longer, tl. red, 1 \ In. across, appearing with or after the leaves, drupe velvety, 



pericarp dry. Lopped by the shepherds for f ling their herds, when long pollard 



shoots spring up with a few narrow linear leaves. 



3. P. brahuica, Aitch. et Eemsl. Amygdalus brahuica, Boiss.) Zarjf, Zaryah, Ealuch. 

 Hills of Baluchistan and Afghanistan, 1-9,000 ft., a stiff scraggy thorny gregarious 

 shrub; branchlets spinescent, young branches and leaves silvery-white, 1. J-J in. long, 

 pubescent while young. Covered with a profusion of pink fl. before the leaves appear, 

 calyx-tube cylindric glabrous, fr. velvety, yellow when ripe, the pericarp bursting 

 open longitudinally. The kernel is eaten. P. eburnea, Aitch. et Hems]., which has 

 U'en stated to grow in Baluchistan and Afghanistan, 1. glabrous, calyx hairy, is, I 

 believe, limited to Persia and Western Afghanistan, but probably is not specifically 

 distinct from 3. 



4. P. persica, Benth. et Hook. f. : Brandis F. Fl. 191.— Syn. Ami/i/dalus 

 ji rsica, Linn. The Peach with velvety and Nectarine with smooth fruit. 

 Vem. Shaftdlu, Baluch. ; Rek, Beim, Sutlej ; Aru, Hind. 



A middle-sized tree, foliage dark green. L. lanceolate, sharply serrate, 

 petiole shorter than greatest width of leaf, stipules subulate, fimbriate. Fl. 

 sessile, pink, generally appearing before the leaves, mostly solitary, from scaly 

 buds on last year's wood. Calyx campauulate. segments wo illy. Drupe downy 

 or glabrous, pericarp tender succulent, stone deeply and irregularly furrowed. 



Indigenous probably in China, commonly cultivated in Western Asia. Europe and 

 China. Also in Baluchistan, in the Himalaya, Kuna war to 10,000 ft., in the plains of 

 Northern India, in Manipux and Upper Burma. PI. according to elevation, between 

 January and May, the fr. ripening between May and October. 



5. P. armeniaca, Linn.; Brandis F. Fl. L91. The Apricot. Vern. 

 /A/;-/, Hazara ; Chilu, Chuli, Shari, X.-W. Himalaya; .labium, Zarddlu, 

 Hind. 



A middle-sized tree, 1. broadly ovate, nearly as broad as Long, acuminate, 

 donate, petiole half the length of leaf, stipules lanceolate. Fl. pinkish-white, 

 solitary or fasciculate, from scaly buds on the previous year's wood, appearing 

 before or with the leaves, peduncles short. Drupe downy or glabrous, pericarp 

 tender succulent, stone smooth with a thickened sulcate margin. 



Believed to be indigenous in the Caucasian region, commonly cultivated in Western 

 and Cent rial A>ia and Europe, in Baluchistan to S.IHlit ft., in the \. \V. Himalaya, in 

 Western Tibet to 12,000 ft. and in the plains of the Punjab. Fl. .Ian. -May, the fr. 

 ripens between June and Sept. 



6. P. communis, Eudson; Brandis F. Fl. 192. The Plum, Prune, Sloe, 

 Damson. Vern. AlUcha, X.W. Himal. 



A shrub or middle-sized tree, unarmed or spinescent, young shoots pubescent. 

 L. ovate or ovate-lanceolate, serrate, more or less pubescent beneath along the 

 nerves, petioles shorter tlian greatest breadth of leaf, stipules linear fimbriate. 

 Pedicels slender, 3 or I times the length of calyx, solitary or fasciculate from 

 lateral often leaf-bearing buds, calyx-tube campauulate. Drupe globose or 

 oblong, pericarp Beany. 



Indige 9 in Europe and Western Asia, where the different kind- have ' n culti- 

 vated from time immemorial, The plum is cultivated in Kashmir and in the Punjab 

 plain-. The plum cultivated in Baluchistan, \ md the X. W. Himalaya, 

 called Mn Bokhara, has been referred to p. dlvaricata, Ledebour, which n irded 



as a distinol species, or as a sub-spacies of P. communis. 



7. P. Puddum, Roxb. ; Kur/. F. Fl. i. 134.— Cerasus Puddum, Wall. PI. 

 A.s Etar. t. i 13. Vera. Phdja, Pajia, Padam, Hind. Panni, Barm. 



A middle-sized or large tree, bark peeling off in horizontal strips, wood pale 

 red. Nearly glabrous, I. glossy, ovate, long-acuminate, sharply serrate, blade 



3 5, petiole .'. in. long, I or more conspicuous glands on petiole, stipules 



pinnatel] or palmntelv divided, the divisions linear, glandular-fimbriate. Fl, 

 white, pink or crimson, appealing before the leaves, in umbellate fascicles, 

 approximate near the en. Is of branchlets, pedicels slender, as long as or longer 



