THE CHEEEY. 



Pru'mis A'vium L. 



Whether -we owe the cultivated Cherry in Europe to 

 the kixury of LucuHus, who is said to have first 

 brought this tree from Cerasus, now Kerasoun, in 

 Pontus, or not, the Wild Cherries {Prumus Pa'dus L., 

 P. Aviwm L. and P. Ce'rasus L.) probably existed 

 before his time — in fact, in a truly indigenous state — 

 throughout the Continent. The three wild forms are 

 popularly distinguished under the names Bird Cherry, 

 (P. Padus), Wild Cherry, or Gean (P. AviuTn), and 

 Dwarf Cherry (P- Cerasus) ; and, though they agree 

 in their botanical characters and geographical distri- 

 bution, there are distinctive features which are suffi- 

 ciently obvious to be explained in simple language. 



To take the last point first, the geographical range 

 of the three forms is nearly the same, namely^ from 

 the Himalayas, through Western Asia, Northern 

 Africa, and Europe ; but the Dwarf Cherry seems the 

 most restricted form, not occurring either in Scotland 

 or in Africa, whilst the Bird Cherry occurs in the 

 Arctic regions both of Europe and of Asia, and is not 

 wild south of the Thames. 



Dealing with the forms separately, the Bird Cherry 

 (P. Padus L.) may well come first, as being in several 

 particulars more distinct from the other two than 

 they are from one another. It is a small tree with 

 one main trunk, reaching but ten or ^twenty feet in 

 R 87 



