THE PLUM 115 



and every twiglet ending in a thorn ; when the leaves 

 are finely toothed and smooth beneath ; when the 

 flowers come out before the leaves, and have smooth 

 flower-stalks ; and when the erect globular purple fruit 

 does not exceed half an inch in diameter, they term 

 it P- spinosa, the Blackthorn, or Sloe. When the 

 bark is brown, the branches straight, downy, and with 

 few thorns, the leaves broader, especially near .their 

 apex, with larger and blunter serrations, and downy 

 below ; when the flowers and leaves expand at the 

 same time, and the flower-stalks are downy; and 

 when the globular fruit is either yellow or purple, 

 and is nearly an inch in diameter, they call it P. 

 • insiti'tia Huds., the Damson or BuUace. When, lastly, 

 the bark is brown, the branches straight, smooth, and 

 thornless, the flower-stalks smooth, and the under 

 surfaces of the leaves only downy along the veins ; 

 and when the purple fruit is oblong and over an inch 

 in length, the tree is an escape from cultivation, 

 although termed the Wild Plum (P. domes'tica L.). 

 The BuUace is a larger shrub than the Black- 

 thorn, and the Plum is a small tree, having generally 

 a distinct main stein five to ten feet high. 



Though their distinctive characters are not very 

 constant, these forms or " sub-species " differ to some 

 extent in their geographical distribution. The Sloe 

 or Blackthorn (P. spinosa) is confined to Europe; 

 whilst the BuUace (P. insititia) extends from the 

 Himalayas and the shores of the Caspian, through 

 Armenia, to the north of Africa and to the south 

 of Scotland. The .Plum (P. domestica) is either 

 nowhere truly wUd, or may be so in Anatolia and the 



