Prunus] XLVI. ROSACE.E 281 



Bird Cherry. Vera. Kdlakdt, Hazara; Jatnun, Junto/', Jaunt, N.-West 

 Himal. 



A tree, attaining 50-00 ft.. wood handsome, polishes well, young shoots, 

 infloresceuce and underside of leaves along nerves pubescent. L. from a slightly 

 cordate base, obovate-oblong, acuminate, serrate, stipules thin, linear-lanceolate, 

 early caducous. Fl. white, appearing after the leaves, racemes 3-8 in. long, at 

 the ends of short Literal (often leaf-bearing) branchlets. bracts thin, caducous, 

 longer than buds. Drupe globose. £- in. diam.. first red, then dark purple or 

 nearly black, stone rugose. 



Kiiraui valley, Trans Indus. Himalaya, Hazara to Sikkiin. 4-10,000 ft. L. turn red 

 before they fall. Fl. April-June. Widely spread, from North and Central Euro]* 

 I hrougb Western Asia and Siberia to Amur land and Kamtchatka. The ovary of this 

 and of P, Puddum is often punctured by an insect and then becomes elongate curved 

 and fusiform, 2 in. long and more, hence the name " cornuta." 15. P. nepalensis, Hook.f., 

 Kumaon, Nepal. Sikkim 6-10,000 ft.. Bhutan, Tibet. Khasi hills. Upper Burma, ever- 

 green forest Ruby Mines district, 6,000 ft. Yunnan. A large tree, similar to Id. but 

 I. with an acute or rounded, not cordate base, glaucous beneath, bracts small shorter 

 than, or equal to pedicel, fr. :, : in. long, stone smooth^ 16. P. undulata, Ham. Kumaon 

 6-8,000 ft., Nepal. Sikkim 8-12,000 ft., Bhutan. Khasi hills, a small tree with slender 

 lax racemes, small fl. ami drupes. 



17. P. acuminata, Wall. PL As. Par. t. 181. Vera. Lali, Pah. 



A small tree, entirely glabrous, 1. quite entire or remotely serrate, pale 

 beneath, racemes axillary, lax. Fl. yellowish-white, on slender pedicels, longer 

 than calyx. Calyx open, cup-shaped, segments linear, petals oblong, stamens 

 15. Drupe ovoid, \ in. long, stone thin, quite smooth. 

 Nepal, sikkim. 5 700 i ft., Assam, Khasi hills. Fl. Oct. to March. 



D. Fl. iu axillary or terminal many-flowered racemes, 1. persistent. 



is. p. martabanica, Kurz V. Fl. i. 434, Tenasserimj Andaman*. Malay Peninsula. A 

 large evergreen tree. I. glabrous entire, blade 1-6, pet. J— % in., racemes solitary, or in 

 pairs, pubescenl 2-6 in. long, calyx broad-campanulate, tomentose outside, petals 

 caducous, orbicular I in. diam., stamens 60-80. Fr. cylindric, pointed, 1 in. long, peri- 

 carp thin, unite dry. 19. P. punctata. Hook. f. & Th., Assam, Khasi hills, Manipur, 

 China. A shrub or -mall tree, I. long can. late-acuminate, dotted beneath with minute 



dark-coloured glands, racemes axillary, compound pedicels very slender Stamens 30. 

 ■Jo. p. jenkinsii, Hook. f. & Th., Assam {Tarraju), Khasi and Naga hills, a small tree 



with shining undulate and re or less serrate I., racemes 1A--A in., straight erect, 



usually densely furnished with tl. to the base, which bears numerous concave orbicular 

 scales, stamens about 50. Drupe j in. long, broadly ovoid, stone rugose, witb r thick 

 ridge on one side, walls thick and hard. 



3. PRINSEPIA, Etoyle; PL Brit. Ind. ii. 322 

 (Species 3, two in Mongolia and North China.) 



P. utilis, Royle TH. t. 38 fig. I : Brandis F. FL 196. Vera. Phaludri, 

 Eaz.; Bekhar, Bhekal, X.W. Himal. 



A spinescenl deciduous shrub, glabrous, youngest shoots only pubescent, 

 pith large, separating when dry into horizontal layers: stout, green axillary 

 often leaf-bearing spines, 1. lanceolate, serrate. Fl. white, in short racemes, 

 generally at the base of spines. Calyx-tube cup-shaped, lobes 5 unequal, im- 

 bricate in bud, petals rounded, claw short. Stamens numerous, inserted below 

 the petals in several rows, anther-cells separated b\ a broad connective. Carpel 

 I. sessile, ovules •_', collateral. Fr. an oblique, oblong-cylindrical, flesh} 



purple drupe, scar of style basal, endocarp coriaceous, seed one only. 



Outer Himalaya from Hazara to Bhutan, 2 9,000 ft., common on drj slopes, Khasi 

 hills, fl. in autumn and winter up to February, fr. iii spring. In Jaunsar B. in 

 spring, fr. E. S. (Kanjilal F. Fl. p. 154.) Sunnan. A common hedge plant iu parts ol 

 Hazara. Oil expressed from the seeds. 



Maddenia himalaica. Hook.f.* Thorns, Sikkim, Bhutan, Mishmi, Tibet, Szechuen, n 



