Prunus.] XXXII. ROSACEA. 191 



■wrinkles and minute holes. Cotyledons large, plano-convex, filled with 

 oil ; albumen none. 



Cultivated in Afghanistan and Persia, whence large quantities of (sweet and 

 some bitter) almonds are brought to India. Also in Kashmir and the plains of 

 the Panjab. Indigenous on the Anti-Lebanon, in Kurdistan, the Caucasus (doubt- 

 fully), and in Turiiestan. Naturalised iu Greece and North Africa. Hardy in 

 England, where it flowers in February. In the Panjab the fruit is scanty, and 

 not good. The Almond was known to Theophrastus and other classical writers. 



2. P. persica, Benth. & Hook. fil. — Syn. Amygdalus Persica, Linn. ; 

 Eoxb. FI. Ind. ii. 500. Persica vulgaris, Mill; Boissier Fl. Orient, ii. 

 640. The Peach with velvety, and Nectarine with smooth fruit. — Vern. 

 OhwaresMdi, Afg.; Aru, aor, chinannu, leinni, heimu, Pb.; Aru, JST.W.P. 



A moderate-sized, deciduous tree, with dark-green foliage ; glabrous. 

 Leaves oblong-lanceolate, condupUcate in bud, serrate, petiole with 2-4 

 glands, or without glands, shorter than greatest width of leaf ; stipules 

 subulate, fijnbriate. Flowers rose-coloured, appearing before or with the 

 leaves, sessile, from scaly buds on last year's wood. Calyx campanulate. 

 Drupe downy or smooth, with a tender succulent sapid pericarp, the stone 

 deep and irregularly furrowed. Cotyledons large, plano-convex, filled 

 with oil ; albumen none. 



Commonly cultivated in the Himalaya from the Indus to Sikkim, also Trans- 

 Indus, in the plains of the Panjab, the Dekkan, in Afghanistan, Western Asia, 

 Europe, and China. It is certainly naturalised in the N.W. Himalaya, and is 

 often found apparently wild. In the same way it has been found in North Persia 

 and in Transcaucasia, but it seems more probable that the peach-tree is origin- 

 ally indigenous in China, where its cultivation has been traced back to the tenth 

 century B.C. Into South Europe it was introduced from Persia about the com- 

 mencement of the Christian era. Hardy in England. In the N.W. Himalaya 

 it is grown at different elevations, in Kunawar up to^lO,000, and in Lahoul to 

 9000 ft. FL, according to elevation, between January and May, the fruit ripen- 

 ing between May and October. The foliage turns red before it is shed. 



The tree is grown for its fruit, which is an important article of food. The 

 blossom is apt to be killed by frost, and a small green beetle at times strips the 

 tree of its leaves. The wood of trees past bearing is used for building and other 

 work ; the heartwood is brown, compact, even-grained, and smooth to work. 



3. P. axmeniaca, Linn. ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 501. — Syn. Armeniaca 

 vulgaris, Lam. ; Boissier Fl. Orient. iL 652. The Apricot. Vern. Hdri, 

 garddhi, jalddru, shlran, cheroli, cherkush, serlmji, shari, Pb. hills ; Iser, 

 Kashmir ; Zarddlu, Pb. plains ; Chudri, zarddlu, KW.P. Himalaya. 



A moderate-sized, deciduous tree. Nearly glabrous, petioles of young 

 leaves pubescent. Leaves convolute in bud, broadly ovate, nearly as 

 broad as long, acuminate, crenate ; petiole glandular, half the length of 

 leaf; stipules lanceolate. Flowers pinkish white, solitary or fasciculate, 

 appearing before or with the leaves from scaly buds on the previous year's 

 wood ; peduncles generally short, included in buds. Calyx campanulate. 

 Drupe downy or smooth, with a tender, succulent, sapid pericarp, the 

 stone smooth, with a thickened sulcate margin. 



Commonly cultivated between Indus and Sarda, in the N.W. Himalaya, in the 

 plains of the Panjab, in Afghanistan, Western and Central Asia, Europe, and 



