194 XXXIl. EOSACE^. [Prunus. 



Also in Persia, on the Caucasus, Taurus, in Asia Minor, Syria, Crete, Greece, 

 Sardinia, Spain, and Algeria. Fl. Apr. Hardy in England. In dry rocky places, 

 Witt stiff, divaricate, often procumbent branches. Bark reddish brown or black- 

 ish, longitudinally rugose, a smooth white peUicle peeling off. The fruit is eaten. 

 This sp. might be identified with P. Gerasus OrifitUi, Boiss. Fl. Or. ii. 648, 

 but the characters separating Grifithii from prostrata, solitary flowers and 

 glabrous calyx-tube in the latter, do not seem to be constant. 



7. P. Puddum, Eoxb. MSS.— Syn. P. sylvatica, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 501 ; 

 Cerasus Puddum, Wall. PI. As. rar. t. 143." Sans. Padmalcsh. Vern. 

 Ghamidri, amalguch, pdja, pajja, Pb. ; Paddam, padm, pdya, N.W.P. 



A handsome moderate-sized tree, with glossy green leaves ; nearly 

 glabrous. Leaves ovate, long-acuminate, sharply and often duplicate- 

 serrate, 3-5 in. long, petioles J in., with 2-4 large glands near base of leaf. 

 Stipules palmately 3-5-fid, the divisions lanceolate, glandular-fimbriate. 

 Flowers white or pink, appearing before the leaves, on slender pedicels as 

 long as flowers, or somewhat longer, often branched, in umbellate fascicles 

 crowded near the ends of branches. Calyx turbinate, with ovate acute 

 lobes. Stigma stellate, 3-lobed. Fruit in pendulous clusters, yellow and 

 red, ovoid or globose, |-§ in. long, ..acid, and somewhat astringent when 

 ripe ; kernel ovoid, rugose and furrowed. 



"Wild, and frequently cultivated in the Himalaya and the Boons, from the 

 Indui3 to Sikkim, generally at elevations between 2500 and 7000 ft. Kasia 

 hills. PI. Apr.-May, sometimes in autumn. Madden states (Bhimtal in Kamaon), 

 " The flowers appear in Oct.-Nov., and are. soon succeeded by the leaves. In 

 January the leaves are beset by myriads of aphides, which distil great quantities 

 of honeydew* over them; " and adds that the tree is evergreen at Almora, and 

 ripens its fruit in spring. Trunk short, 4-5 ft. girth. Bark brownish grey, 

 smooth, peeling off in flakes. "Wood reddish brovra, hard, strong, and durable, 

 used for walking-sticks and bludgeons. Fruit acid and astringent, not much 

 eaten or valued. 



P. Pseudocerasus, Lindl., China, Japan, is nearly related to C. Puddum. Two 

 other species belonging to the same group as the Cherry and Puddum are found 

 in the North- West Himalaya. 1. P. humilis, Bunge, called Rds, she, hunarala, 

 rapori, talle, in the Panjab Himalaya, is a small glabrous shrub, with brownish- 

 grey bark, ovate-lanceolate, coriaceous, deep- and sharp-serrate leaves, fimbriate, 

 and often bifid stipules, which is found between 7000 and 12,000 ft. in the more 

 arid parts of the North-West Himalaya, from the Chenab to the Jumna, also in 

 North China, and is supposed to be the wild form of Prunus japonica, Thunb., 

 several varieties of which are cultivated in Japan on account of their Ijeautiful 

 white or pink, often double, blossoms. 2. P. tomentosa. Wall., found in Kash- 

 mir by T. Thomson, between 5000 and 6000 ft., is remarkable on account of its 

 softly-tomentose, ovate leaves, and an ovoid, acuminate, nearly sessile fruit. It 

 is similar to P. tomentosa, Thvmb., a shrub or small tree, wild in North China, 

 and cultivated in gardens in Japan, with sessile scarlet fruit ; valued in Japan 

 as a remedy against dysentery (Sieb. Zucc. Fl. Jap. p. 53 t. 22). 



8. P. Padus, Linn.; Hook. Stud. Fl. 107.— Syn. Cerasus Padus, Bois- 

 sier Fl. Orient, ii. 650. Cerasus cornuta, WaU. ; Eoyle HI. t. 38, f. 2. 

 Bird Cherry. Vern. Paras, kdlakdt, gldar-ddk, hart, zum, zam, zamhu, 

 jamu, jamui, chule, dudla, krun, Pb. ; Jdmana, Kamaon. 



* The honeydew is possibly a secretion of the leaves, which attracts the aphides. 



