XXVI. ROSA CEE. 259 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves acuminate, villose beneath at the axils of the veins, 
As compared with C. Siliquastrum, its flowers are of a paler rose colour, 
the legume is on a longer pedicel, and tipped with a longer style. A low 
tree. Canada to Virginia. (Dec. Prod.) Height 10 ft. to 20 ft. Introd. 1730. 
Flowers red ; May and June.; Legume brown ; ripe in August. 
Variety. 
¥ C.c. pubéscens Ph. — Leaves pubescent on the under surface. (Dec.) 
This tree bears a general resemblance to the preceding species ; but it is 
more slender and smaller in all its parts; and it seldom rises higher than 20 
feet. It is at once distinguished from C. Siliquastrum by its leaves being 
heart-shaped and pointed ; they are also much thinner, more veined, and of a 
lighter green; and the flowers are generally produced in smaller numbers 
than in the other species. The flowers are used by the French Canadians in 
salads and pickles, and the young branches to dye wool of a nankeen colour. 
The wood resembles that of the other species. Propagated by imported 
seeds, and considered more tender than C. Siliquastrum. 
Orver XXVI. ROSA'CE/. 
Tue term Rosacez has been applied to this order, because all the species 
belonging to it agree more or less with the genus Rosa, in essential charac- 
ters. It includes many genera belonging to the Linnzan class Icosandria. 
Ord. Char. Flowers regular. Calyx, in most cases, with 5 lobes, the odd one 
posterior to the axis of inflorescence. Petals and stamens arising from the 
calyx. Stamens, for the most part, numerous. Ovaries many, several, or 
solitary ; each of one cell that includes, in most cases, 1 ovule; in some, 
lto many ovules. Sty/e lateral or terminal. 
Leaves simple, or pinnately divided, alternate, in nearly all stipulate. 
Flowers showy, with numerous stamens, Fruif,in many of the genera, edible. 
—Trees and shrubs, mostly deciduous; natives of Europe, Asia, and America, 
The ligneous species which constitute this order include the finest flower- 
ing shrub in the world, the rose; and the trees which produce the most 
useful and agreeable fruits of temperate climates, viz. the apple, the pear, the 
plum, the cherry, the apricot, the peach, and the nectarine. The plants are, 
for the most part, deciduous low trees or shrubs, all producing flowers more 
or less showy ; and the greater number fruits which are edible. They are 
chiefly natives of Europe and Asia ; but several of them are also found in 
North America, and some in South America, and the North of Africa. The 
fruit-bearing species, and the rose, have followed man from the earliest period 
of civilisation, and are, perhaps, better known to mankind in general than any 
other ligneous plants. The medical properties of several of the species are 
remarkable, from the circumstance of their yielding the prussic acid; while 
others produce a gum nearly allied to the gum Arabic, which indicates a 
degree of affinity between this order and Leguminacex. The bark of some 
species, as of Cérasus virginiana, is used, in North America, as a febrifuge ; 
and that of others, as the capollin cherry (Cérasus Capdllin), for tanning, 
in Mexico. The leaves of Crate‘gus Oxyacantha, Prunus spindésa, Cérasus 
sylvéstris, and Rosa rubigindsa, have been used as a substitute for tea, or for 
adulterating tea. The leaves and bark of the spireeas are said to be at once 
astringent and emetic. There are two characteristics of this order, with 
reference to its cultivation, which are of great importance to the gardener : 
the first is, the liability of almost all the species to sport, and produce 
varieties differing, in many cases, more from one another, than they differ 
from other species; and the second is, that they are remarkably subject to 
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