876 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



that truth and facts ought to be pursued for their own sake; secondly, that 

 if what are now considered species can be proved to be varieties, it will 

 save botanists and gardeners much trouble in seeking for permanent or 

 specific distinctions where none really exist ; thirdly, it will greatly assist 

 the memory, by grouping related kinds together; and it will be a guide to 

 collectors in their choice of sorts. See what we have advanced on this 

 subject in p. 216. 



¥ 4. A. (v.) ova x lis Dec. The o\a\-lcaved Amelanchier. 



Identification. Dec. Prod., 2. p. 632. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 604. 



Syrian t/wes. Crataegus spicata Lam. Diet., 1. p. 84.?; 3/espilus Amelanchier Walt. Car., p. 184. ; 

 A. parviflbra Doug. MS.; M. canadensis var. «. ovalis Michx. Am., 1. p. 291.; Pyrus ovalis 

 Willd. Sp., 2. p 1014.; Aronia ovalis Pas. Syn., 2. p. 240. ; Amelanchier du Canada, Alisier a 

 E'pi, Fr. ; rundblattrige Birne, Gcr. 



Engraving. Fig. 632. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves roundish-elliptical, acute; 

 when young, rather velvety beneath ; when adult, 

 glabrous. Raceme coarctate. Petals obovate. 

 Calyx pubescent. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 632.) A na- 

 tive of North America, throughout Canada, from 

 Lake Huron to the Rocky Mountains. It was in- 

 troduced in 1800, grows to the height of a low 

 tree, and produces its flowers and fruits at the 

 same time as A. Botryapium. Of this species Sir 

 Win. Jackson Hooker observes, " I am sometimes 

 disposed to agree with Dr. Torrey, who suspects 

 this to be only a variety of A. Botryapium ; " and 

 he adds that Michaux seems to have included A. 

 Botryapium and A. vulgaris under his A. canadensis. 

 A. ovalis, according to Dr. Richardson, abounds in the sandy plains of the 

 Saskatchawan, where its wood is prized by the Cree Indians for making 

 arrows and pipe stems ; and it is thence termed by the Canadian voyagers 

 bois de fleche. Its berries, which are about the size of a pea, are the finest 

 fruit in the country ; and are used by the Cree Indians both in a fresh and 

 in a dried state. They " make excellent puddings, very little inferior to 

 plum-pudding." (Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer., i. p. 203.) As far as we are able to 

 judge, this, and the two preceding forms, belong to one species. There 

 are trees of both species in the Horticultural Society's Garden, within a very 

 few yards of each other; and it is from examining these at different seasons 

 that we have arrived at the above conclusion. 

 Variety. 



*f A. (v.) o. 2 subcorddta Dec. Aronia subcordata Raf. ; M alus microcarpa 



Raf. — A native of mountains near New York. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 632.) 



% A. (v.) o. 3 semi-ititegrifolia Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer., p. 201. — Leaves for 



the most part separated at the apex. A native about the Grand 



Rapids, and at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia. 



*t 5. A. (v.) flo'rida Lindl. The flowery Amelanchier. 



Identification. Lindl. Bot. Rep., 1. 1589. ; Gard. Mag., vol. ix. p. 484. 

 Engravings. Bot. Keg., 1. 1.389. ; and our .fig. 634. to a scale of 2 in. to 1 ft., and 

 Jig. 6-33. of the natural size. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves oblong, obtuse at both ends, coarsely 

 serrate in the terminal portion, gla- 

 brous in every state. Bracteas and 

 stipules feathery at the tip, soon falling 

 off". Flowers in upright racemes, many 

 in a raceme. Calyx glabrous exter- 

 nally; its segments longer than, or 

 at least as long as, the stamens. 

 (Lmdlcy in Bot. Reg., t. 1.589.) A 

 handsome hardy shrub, or low tree, 



