FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 137 



Almond. Barbary, 1548. Whether by a suburban 

 roadside, or even in the heart of the crowded city, the 

 Almond seems quite at home, and is at once one of the 

 loveliest and most welcome of early spring-flowering 

 trees. The flowers are rather small for the family, pale 

 pink, and produced in great quantity before the leaves. 

 There are several distinct forms of the Almond, differing 

 mainly in the colour of the flowers, one being pink, 

 another red, while a third has double flowers. P. 

 Amygdalus macrocarpa (Large-fruited Almond) is by 

 far the handsomest variety in cultivation, the flowers 

 being large, often 3 inches in diameter, and white tinged 

 with pink, particularly at the base of the petals. The 

 flowers, too, are produced earlier than those of any other 

 Almond, while the tree is of stout growth and readily 

 suited with both soil and site. 



P. Amygdalus dtjlcis (syn A. duleis). — Sweet Almond, 

 of which there are three distinct varieties, P. A. duleis 

 purpurea, P. A. duleis macrocarpa, and P. A. duleis 

 pendula, should be included in every collection of these 

 handsome flowering plants. 



P. Avium Juliana (syn Cerasus Jvliana). — St. Julian's 

 Cherry. South Europe. This bears large flowers of a 

 most beautiful and delicate blush tint. P. Avium multiplex 

 is a double form of the Wild Cherry, or Gean, with smaller 

 leaves than the type. 



P. Boissieeii (syn Amygdalus Boissierii). — Asia Minor, 

 1879. This is a bushy shrub, with almost erect, long, 

 and slender branches, and furnished with leaves an inch 

 in length, elliptic, and thick of texture. Flowers pale 

 flesh-coloured, and produced abundantly. It is a very 

 ornamental and distinct plant, and is sure, when better 

 known, to attract a considerable amount of attention. 



P. ceeasifbea (syn P. Myrobalana). — Cherry, or 

 Myrobalan Plum. Native Country unknown. A medium- 

 sized tree, with an abundance of small white flowers, 



