344 



FEUITS. 



Ch ap. X. 



flowered peaches have the singular property 65 of frequently producing 

 double or treble fruit. Finally, there is good reason to believe that the 

 peach is an almond profoundly modified; but whatever its origin mav 

 have been, there can be no doubt that it has yielded during the last eighteen 

 centuries many varieties, some of them strongly characterised, belonging 

 both to the nectarine and peach form. 



Apricot (Primus armeniaca). — It is commonly admitted that this tree is 

 descended from a single species, now found wild in the Caucasian region 6G 

 On this view the varieties deserve notice, because they illustrate differences 

 supposed by some botanists to be of specific value in the almond and plum 

 The best monograph on the apricot is by Mr. Thompson, 67 who describes 

 seventeen varieties. We have seen that peaches and nectarines vary in a 

 strictly parallel manner ; and in the apricot, which forms a closely allied 

 genus, we again meet with variations analogous to those of the peach as 

 well as to those of the plum. The varieties differ considerably in the 

 shape of their leaves, which are either serrated or crenated, sometimes 

 with ear-like appendages at their bases, and sometimes with glands on 

 the petioles. The flowers are generally alike, but are small in the Mascu- 

 line. The fruit varies much in size, shape, and in having the suture 

 little pronounced or absent ; in the skin being smooth, or downy as in the 

 orange-apricot; and in the flesh clinging to the stone, as in the last- 

 mentioned kind, or in readily separating from it, as in the Turkey- 

 apricot. In all these differences we see the closest analogy with the 

 varieties of the peach and nectarine. In the stone we have more important 

 differences, and these in the case of the plum have been esteemed of specific 

 value : in some apricots the stone is almost spherical, in others much flattened, 

 being either sharp in front or blunt at both ends, sometimes channelled 

 along the back, or with a sharp ridge along both margins. In the Moor- 

 park, and generally in the Hemskirke, the stone presents a singular 

 character in being perforated, with a bundle of fibres passing through the 

 perforation from end to end. The most constant and important character, 

 according to Thompson, is whether the kernel is bitter or sweet ; yet in 

 this respect we have a graduated difference, for the kernel is very bitter 

 in Shipley's apricot; in the Hemskirke less bitter than in some other 

 kinds; slightly bitter in the Eoyal; and "sweet like a hazel-nut" in the 

 Breda, Angoumois, and others. In the case of the almond, bitterness has 

 been thought by some high authorities to indicate specific difference. 



In N. America the Roman apricot endures "cold and unfavourable 

 situations, where no other sort, except the Masculine, will succeed; and 

 its blossoms bear quite a severe frost without injury." 68 According to 

 Mr. Eivers 69 seedling apricots deviate but little from the character of 



65 ' Journal of Hort. Soc.,' vol ii p 

 283. 



66 Alph. de Candolle, ' Geograph 

 Bot.,' p. 879. ■ 



67 ' Transact. Hort. Soc' (2nd series), 

 vol. i. 1835, p. 56. See also ' Cat. of 

 Fruit in Garden of Hort. Soc.,' 3rd 



edit. 1842. 



68 Downing, 'The Fruits of Ame- 

 rica,' 1845, p. 157 ; with respect to the 

 Alberge apricot in France, see p. 153. 



69 'Gardeners Chronicle,' 1863, p. 

 364. 



