CHAP. XLII. 



kosa'ceje. i j e'rsjca, 



679 



Commercial Statistics. Standards of the common almond, in the London 

 nurseries, are 1a 1 . (id. each ; at Bollwyller, 1 franc ; and at New York, 50 cents. 

 A. c. macrocarpa, in the London nurseries, is from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. a plant. 



& 3. A. orientals Ait. The Eastern Almond Tree. 



Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 1., i. p. 162., ed. 2., iii. p. 195. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 530. ; Don's 



Mill., 2. p. 482. 

 Synonymes. A. argentea Lam. Diet., 1. p. 103., N. Du Ham., 3. p. 115. 

 Engraving. Lodd. Bot. Cat., t. 1137. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Imperfectly evergreen. Branches and leaves clothed with 

 a silvery tomentum; petiole of the leaf short, the disk lanceolate and 

 entire. Flowers rose-coloured, and rather longer than those of A. nana. 

 Calyx cylindrically bell-shaped. Fruit tipped with a point. (Dec. Prod., ii. 

 p. 530.) A tall shrub or low tree, growing to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft.; 

 and, according to Bosc, to the height of 15 ft. or 20 ft. It is a native of 

 the Levant ; introduced in 1756, and flowering in March and April. It is 

 very striking, from the hoary, or rather silvery, appearance of its leaves ; 

 and* it makes a handsome plant when budded standard high on the common 

 almond or the plum. Specimens so budded may be seen in the Hammer- 

 smith Nursery. It flowers less freely than the preceding sort ; but deserves 

 a place in collections on account of its fine silvery foliage. 



A pp. i. Other Species of Kmygdahts. 



We have little doubt in our own mind, that all the foregoing sorts, except the last, belong to A. nana 

 and A. communis ; and that the almond, the peach, and the nectarine are as much modifications of 

 one species, as the different varieties of cabbages are of the wild plant, 2?rassica olei acea. We admit 

 the convenience, however, of giving the sorts different names, and keeping them distinct; and we 

 have accordingly done so. To the kinds we have already enumerated we may add some others, 

 which, whether they are varieties or species, we are unable to determine ; but we see nothing in the 

 specific character to render it impossible that they may be only varieties ; and, when we consider the 

 different modifications which the tree undergoes, under the different circumstances of climate and 

 culture to which it has been subjected, we incline, as usual, to the side of simplification. 



3fe A. Tournefdrtn Bosc is said to be found in Asia Minor, Persia, and the adjoining countries. 

 Rosier, and other French authors, consider it as the original type of the common species ; but Bosc, 

 who cultivated it in Carolina, says he considers it as a distinct species, because the extremities of its 

 shoots were not thorny, as those of the common almond are in a perfectly wild state ; and because it 

 only grows to 3 ft. or 4 ft. in height. {Bosc, in N. Cours complet d' Agriculture, art. Amandier.) 



^ A. cochinchinensis Lour. Fl. Cochin., p. 316. Native of Cochin-China, in woods. Corolla white. 

 Kernel like the common almond in form and smell. Tree from 30 ft. to 40 ft. high. (Don's Mill ii 

 p. 493.) 



Sk A. microphi/lla H. B. et Kunth, Nov. Gen. Araer., 6. p. 245. t. 564. Native of Mexico, between 

 Pachucha and Moran, on arid hills, at the height of 3900 ft. Flowers small, pink. Shrub, 3 ft high 

 (Don's Mill., ii. p. 493.) 



Genus II. 



PE'RSICA Tourn. The Peach Tree. Lin. Sj/st. Icosandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 400. ; Mill. Diet. ; Dec. Fl. Fr., 487. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 483. 

 Synonymes. ^mygdalus sp. of Lin. and Juss. ; Trichocarpus Neck. Elem., No. 718. ; Pecher, Fr. 



Pfirschenbaum, Ger. 

 Derivation. So named from the peach coming originally from 396 



Persia. 



Description, fyc. The species are well-known fruit 

 trees, in cultivation in gardens throughout the tem- 

 perate regions of the world : in the middle and 

 south of Europe, the fruit ripens in the open air ; 

 but in the north of Germany and Russia, and in 

 Denmark and Sweden, only against a wall, or under 

 glass. The species have the same medicinal pro- 

 perties as those of ^mygdalus, but in a slighter 

 degree. The peach and the nectarine are by some 

 botanists made distinct species; but there can be 

 no doubt of their being only varieties of one kind, 



