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ARMENIACA, 



APRICOT TREE. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



THE APRICOT TREE is a tree of medium height that doesn't grow tall but spreads its 

 branches widely. 



Its shoots are strong & vigorous; they have smooth bark & usually are tinged with 

 red on the side toward the sun. They have single, double, or triple buds, & in some types 

 an even larger number are grouped on the same stem. 



The leaves are attached alternately on the shoot by long, thin stalks that let them 

 hang down. They're wide on the side where they open out, & they terminate in a point. 

 They're shaped very much like those of the poplar tree. Their size, proportions, 

 denticulation, &c. vary according to the type. Inside the bud they're folded in half. When 

 they emerge, they're accompanied by fringed stipules that are often colored and that dry 

 up & fall off before the leaves have reached full size. 



The flowers are composed of: 1°. a calyx with a cup about two lignes high, 

 rounded at the bottom, covered with bud scales, & attached to the branch by a small 

 pedicel half a ligne long at most. The rim of the cup is about three lignes wide and 

 divided into five sections each three lignes long and the same in width. They end in a 

 blunt point, are hollowed out like a spoon & normally are bent back onto the cup. 



