THE COMMON OR CHERRY LAUREL 51 
by Bentham and Hooker. The genus Prunus is 
characterised by its. fruit being a “drupe ”—a suc- 
culent fruit, formed from one carpel, with a strong 
inner layer, or “endocarp,” and containing two 
pendulous ovules, only one of which commonly 
matures into a seed. The calyx falls off with the 
petals. The Cherry Laurel differs from the Plums, 
and agrees with the Cherries, in the absence of 
“bloom ” from the surface of the fruit; but, together 
with the Bird-cherry (P. Pa‘dus-L.) and the Portugal 
Laurel (P. lusita'nica L.), it constitutes a distinct 
sub-genus (Lawrocerasus), characterised by having 
“eonduplicate” leaves and “racemes” of flowers, 
which appear after the leaves, whilst the rest of 
the genus have their flowers either solitary or in 
“ fascicles.” .A “fascicle” is a tuft of flowers whose 
stalks spring nearly from one point, whilst a “raceme” 
has an elongated main stalk or peduncle, giving off 
successive lateral “ pedicels” or flower-stalks. 
The Cherry Laurel is exceptional among its con- 
geners in having green shoots, and the yellowish- 
green tint of its leathery evergreen leaves is also 
characteristic. They somewhat resemble those of 
the Orange or of the Magnolia, They are “ovate- 
lanceolate” in outline, are provided with a few scat- 
tered teeth along their margins, and (like those of 
many allied “drupaceous” or “stone-fruit” trees) 
have from two to four glands on their under sur- 
faces. The “racemes” are shorter than the leaves, 
and the fruits are “ovate-acute” in outline. 
The species is one of rapid growth, i increasing from 
one foot to three feet in height in a single year; but 
