PERSIC A, PEACH TREE. 3 



by short & thick pedicels that extend through the entire length of the leaf forming a 

 prominent vein underneath & a very slight groove on the inside of the leaf. Each side of 

 this midrib is supplied with very small short veins & with medium ones that extend as far 

 as the margins & branch out into a large number of smaller ones. They're situated 

 alternately & most of them also correspond in alternating sequence with those on the 

 other side of the midrib. The leaves on most peach trees are a meadow-green or tend 

 somewhat to yellow. They're folded in half when they emerge from buds. Their aroma & 

 flavor closely resemble those of bitter almonds. Each node on a shoot bears one, two, or 

 three leaves - rarely more. When there are several the one in the middle of the stem is 

 large; the others emerging at the sides are much smaller. 



A bud forms in the axil of each leaf. Consequently the number of buds usually is 

 equal to the number of leaves that originate at each node, & as a result there are single 

 buds (a), double buds (6), & triple buds (c, Fig. 6.) 



The peach tree's flower is hermaphroditic, consisting of: 1°. a cup-shaped calyx 

 (Fig. 7.) with an opening at the bottom, usually dark red on the side toward the sun & 

 green on the opposite side. It's divided into five sections, or blunt segments that extend to 

 the midpoint of the calyx, reflex onto the cup, and are hollowed spoonlike. 2°. five petals 

 (Fig. 4, 2, 1 .) arranged like a rose and attached by a thin unguis at the corners of the 

 indentations of the calyx. Some flowers have six petals; the double flowers have a large 

 number of them. The petals are slightly hollowed spoonlike, more or less rounded, 

 colored a fairly deep red, and are large, small, or medium sized. The difference in the 

 shape, color, & size of the petals 



