118 EOSK FAMILY. 



1. PRUNtlS, PLUM, &c. (The ancient Latin name of the Plum.) As 

 now i-eceived, this gcuns comprises all the following groups, which it has 

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

 stona and kernel of the fruit usually with the flavor of prussie acid, especially 

 in the Poach and Cherries. 



§ 1. At^mond and Peach. Flowers almost sessile., from separate seal// buds, 

 in spring, beforn the leaves, the lattei' folded together lenglkioise {cciiduplicate) 

 in the bad: fruit velvet//, large. -the stone with wrinkles and holes. 



P. (Am^gdalus) nana, Dwarf or Ff-owekixg 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-tubo short-cylindrical ; fruit dry when ripe, with 

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

 Almond. 



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

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

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

 clinging to or hcparablo from the rough-wrinkled porous stone. Unknown in a 

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

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



§ 2. Apricot. Flowers short-pedicelled or almost sessile, from separate seal// 

 biuls, in earl// spring, before the leaves, ivliich are rolled up {convolute) in 

 the bud: drupe velvet//, but with a smooth stone having grooved margins, one 

 of them sliarjy-edged, 



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

 with ovate and mostly rather heart-sha])ed 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 pediceJled and almost alwags white : drupe 

 smooth, its stone smooth or somewhat rugged. 



» Plu.ms. Flowers from separate lateral buds, in spring, preceding orcoetaneous 

 ivith 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 fat or 

 Jiattish stone. 



■1- Exotic (European or Asiatic) species. 



P. dom^Stica, Garden Plu.m, of many varieties : tree with spreading 

 thornless branches, and oblong or lance-ovate' leaves ; the frnit 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 Pluji, 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. spin6sa, Sloe, or Black I'horn. Cult, or nat. in old gardens or 

 waste places : a low tree, with spreading thorny branches ; the obovato-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- -1- Native species of the countn/, but two of them have been planted for the fruit. 

 The// are manifestl// Plums rather ttian Cherries, although tlie last is am- 

 biguous as to the fruit, onli/ the Beach Plum luis an obvious bloom on the 

 fruit, and all have the leaves folded ta 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 

 sott-(lowny nnderneath, short and downy pedicels, and globular purple or crim- 

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

 preserving. 



P. Americana, Wild Red and Yellow Plum. Along streams through 

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



