THE PLUM. 



Pru'mts ifpiru/sa L. 



The Order Rosa'cece, though far smaller and less 

 useful to man than the Legumino'sce, includes all our 

 native fruit trees except the Hazel, and, next to the 

 Order Gupuliferce, to which the Hazel belongs, the 

 greatest number of our British trees. Its arborescent 

 members fall into two Sub-orders, the Brupa'cece, or 

 " stone fruits," and the Pom,a'cece, a group including 

 Pears, Apples, Rowan, Hawthorn, and others, the fruit 

 of which is known technically as a "pome." The 

 DrupacecB, including the Peaches, Nectarines, Almonds, 

 Cherries, and Cherry-laurels, in addition to the Plums, 

 are plants which are obviously related by the 

 character of their fruits, and less obviously by other 

 structural peculiarities. They are all woody' plants, 

 though varying through a wide range of sizes. They 

 have simple leaves, arranged singly on the nodes of 

 their stems, generally more or less toothed along their 

 edges — the teeth often terminating in glands — and hav- 

 ii^g sugar-excreting glands upon their leaf- stalks. The 

 flowers are variously grouped, but are restricted in 

 range of colour, being invariably white, pink, or red. 

 They agree, however, in having typically five parts to 

 both calyx and corolla, and, unlike the Apples, Pears, 

 etc., in shedding both these floral whorls when they 

 have " set seed." The stamens are numerous in each 

 flower, and rise separately from the margin of a cup 

 15 lis 



