118 ROSE FAMILY. 



1. PRtTNITS, PLTM, &c. (The ancient Latin name of the Pllim.) As 

 now received, this genus comprises all the following groups, which it has 

 been found impracticable to keep up as botanical genera. Foliage and the 

 stone and kernel of the fruit usually with the flavor of prussic acid, especiaUy 

 in the Peach and Cherries. 



8 1. Almond and Peach. Flowers almost sessile, from separate scaly buds, 



in spring, before the leaves, the latter folded together lengthwise Iccndupltcate) 



in the bud: fruit velvety, large : the stone with yinnkks, and Motes.- 



V (Am-^-edalus) n^na, Dwarf or Floweeing Almond. Cult, for 



ornament, from Asia ; a low shrub, with abundant and handsome rose-colored 



(or by variation white) usually full-double flowers, earlier than the long and 



narrow smooth leaves ; calyx-tube short-cylindrical ; fruit dry when ripe, with 



the outer part separating as a husk from the brittle stone, as m the edible 



P (A ) Pfersiea, Peach. Cult, from Asia for the fruit, also a double-fl. 

 variety, for ornament ; small tree, with purplish-rose-colored flowers, bell-shaped 

 calyx-tube, lanceolate leaves, and globular fruit ripening a thick pulp, either 

 cUnging to or separable from the rough-wrinkled porous stone. Unknown in a 

 wild state probably derived from the Common Almond, P. (A.) commCnis. 

 — Var. Isevis, the Nectarine, is a state with a smooth-skinned fruit. 



§ 2. Apricot. Floivers short-pedicelled or almost sessile, from separate scalt/ 



buds, in early spring, before the leaves, which are rolled up {convolute) in 



the bud: driipe velvety, but with a smoM jtone having grooved margins, one 



of them sharp-edged. 



P. Armeniaca, Apricot. Cult. -from Armenia; a low smooth tree, 



with ovate and mostly rather heart-shaped leaves, white or slightly rosy flowers 



solitary or in pairs, and early-ripening fruit, of character intermediate between 



peach and plum. 



§ 3. Plum and Cherry. Flowers pedicdled and almost always white : drupe 



smooth, its stone smooth or somewhat rugged. 

 * Plums. Flowers from separate lateral buds, m spring, preceding or coetaneous 

 with the leaves ; the latter rolled up, or in most of our native species folded 

 together, in the bud ; drupe generally with a whitish bloom and a flat or 

 flattish stone. 



->- Exotic (European or Asiatic) species. 



P. domdstica. Garden Plum, of many varieties : tree with spreading 

 thornless branches, and oblong or lance-ovate leaves ; the fruit very various in 

 size and shape, with a flat or flattish and roughish stone. Doubtless (at least 

 in part) a long-cultivated derivative of 



P. insititia, Bullace Plum, introduced in some places near the seaboard, 

 has been used as a stock for grafting, &c., is a little thorny, the pedicels and 

 lower face of the leaves downy, the fruit round and black. 



P. spindsa, Sloe, or Black Thorn. Cult, or nat. in old gardens or 

 waste places : a low tree, with spreading thorny branches ; the obovate-oblong 

 or lance-oblong leaves and pedicels soon glabrous ; fruit small, globular, purple- 

 black, with a turgid stone and a greenish astringent pulp. Probably this is the 

 original of the Bullace. 



■I- -I- Native species of the country, but two of them have been planted for the fruit. 

 They are manifestly Plums rathfr than Cherries, although the last is am- 

 biguous as to the fruit, only the Beach Plum has an obvious bloom on the 

 fruit, and all have the leaves folded tu the bud. 



P. maritima. Beach Plum. Sea-beaches and sandy soil near the coast; 

 a scarcely thorny shrub, 2° - 5° high, with the ovate or oval finely serrate leaves 

 soft-downy underneath, short and downy pedicels, and globular purple or crim- 

 son fruit with a bloom (J' - 1' long), rather pleasant-tasted, sometimes used for 

 preserving. 



P. Americ&na, Wild Red and Yellow Plum. Along streams through 

 the country; occasionally planted; a tall shrub or small tree, often thorny, 



