AMYGDALUS, ALMONDTREE. 125 



& narrower relative to their length. The stalk, quite short and thick, extends the entire 

 length of the leaf right up to the tip, in the form of a very prominent green-white midrib. 

 The lateral veins are barely discernible, especially on small leaves. 



The flowers consist of: 1°. a cup-like calyx divided into five sections with tips that 

 end in a blunt point. The tube is two to three lignes long; its diameter at the notches of the 

 sections is a ligne-&-a-ha\f & about one ligne at its base, which is covered with several 

 scales. It's made up of one or of several thin membranes that have visible lines or small 

 buff-colored ridges formed by the filaments of the stamens that originate within it. The 

 indentations are about a Z/gA?e-&-a-half long. 2°. five pink petals contracted more toward 

 the tip than toward the calyx. They're six lignes long, two or two-&-a-half lignes wide, 

 diminishing uniformly in width from the rounded tip down to the calyx where they're 

 attached between the indentations. 3°. about twenty stamens with pale red filaments & 

 yellow tips divided by a red line. They don't lie back scattered on the petals but stand 

 upright together on the disc of the flower. 4°. a conical ovary surmounted by a style 

 terminating in a stigma. The entire pistil is three or four lignes long. In April from one to 

 four flowers & a shoot, with its first leaves developing at the same time as the flowers, 

 emerge from the same node. This mingling of leaves and flowers bedecking all of its 

 branches give this tree a delightful appearance at this season. 



The fruit is small & rarely plentiful. It's an inch long, eight lignes wide, and five 

 lignes thick. It comes to a point & also diminishes in size near the stem, which is very 

 short. The husk is covered with a long, coarse, & thick reddish nap. 



