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252 



reau and the Black Heart maybe instanced 

 as typical of the better kinds, have gene- 

 rally large pendent leaves, waved on the 

 margin, with sharp prominent veins be- 

 neath, coarsely serrated, of thinner texture, 

 and of a more yellowish-green colour than 

 those of the G. vulgaris ; buds pointed ; flow- 

 ers large, proceeding from wood of not less 

 than two years old ; petals loosely set; sta- 

 mens slender, irregular in length, some be- 

 ing longer and others shorter than the style. 

 From C. vulgaris are derived such varieties 

 as the May Duke, Kentish, and Morello. 

 The leaves are generally smaller than those 

 of the preceding species, and have their 

 margins plain, with the veins beneath as 

 they approach the margin scarcely at all 

 prominent, the parenchyma or fleshy 

 substance of the leaves being much 

 thicker than in the former ; their colour 

 is deep green ; petioles comparatively short 

 and thick, supporting the leaves nearly 

 erect ; petals roundish, forming a regular 

 cup-shaped flower, with strong stamens, 

 generally shorter than the style. Fruit 

 round, roundish heart-shaped, or oblate, 

 with aqueous flesh ; colour red, dark red, 

 or nearly black, none being white, nor white 

 and red. 



Both these species appear to be natives 

 of Europe, although Pliny states that there 

 were no Cherries in Italy before the victory 

 obtained over Mithridates by Lucullus,who 

 was, according to the above author, the 

 first who brought them to Rome, about 

 sixty-eight years before the Christian era. 

 It is also stated by the same authority 

 that, ' in less than 120 years after, other 

 lands had Cherries, even as far as Britain 

 beyond the ocean.' Pliny's statements, 

 Professor Taglioni observes, gave rise to 

 the tale, so generally received as a fact, 

 that Cherries came originally from Cera- 

 sonte, now Zefano, and were therefore 

 called Cerasus by the Latins. It may be 

 here observed that nearly all the names of 

 the Cherry in the south of Europe and 

 Germanic languages are derived from the 

 Ke'pa<ros of the Greeks. Now, Decandolle 

 says that the Cherry tree is decidedly wild 

 in Europe, and especially in Greece, where 

 it had existed from a very early period, 

 for it is mentioned by Theophrastus b.c. 

 300, more than two centuries before its 

 reputed first introduction to Rome by 

 Lucullus from Cerasonte. Some authors 

 are therefore of opinion that the name of 

 that city had been derived from the tree, 

 previously known as Cerasus in the south 

 of Europe, and not that of the tree in 

 question from the city. In the gardens of 

 the latter, and in the surrounding country, 

 Cherry-trees may have been so remarkably 

 abundant as to occasion its being distin- 

 guished by their name. 



When the Rev. Dr. Walsh visited Turkey 

 in 1824, amongst other plants of which he 

 gave an account (Trans. Hort.Soc.vi. 32), 

 he mentions the abundance of Cherry- 

 trees as follows: 'Primus Cerasus, two 

 varieties. The first of these varieties is a 

 Cherry of enormous size, that grows along 

 the northern coast of Asia Minor, from 



whence the original Cherry was brought to 

 Europe. It is cultivated in gardens always 

 as a standard, and by a graft. The gardens 

 consist wholly of cherry-trees, and each 

 garden occupies several acres of ground. 

 You are permitted to enter these, and eat 

 as much fruit as you please, without pay- 

 ment; but if you wish to take any with 

 you, you pay about a halfpenny per pound. 

 The second variety is an amber-coloured 

 transparent Cherry of a delicious flavour. 

 It grows in the woods in the interior of 

 Asia Minor, particularly on the banks of 

 the Sakari,the ancient Sangarius. The trees 

 attain a gigantic size ; they are ascended by 

 perpendicular ladders suspended from the 

 lowest branches. The trunk of one which 

 I measured was five feet in circumference ; 

 and the height where the first branches 

 issued forty feet ; from the summit of the 

 highest branch was from ninety to 100 

 feet ; and this immense tree was loaded 

 with fruit.' 



From a country naturally so favourable 

 to the growth of the Cherry, it is probable 

 that Lucullus may have brought some va- 

 rieties different from any known at Rome; 

 but, being indigenous to Italy, Cherries 

 must have been familiarly recognized by a 

 name common to them in the south of 

 Em-ope long before the Romans extended 

 their conquests as far as Asia Minor. In 

 consequence of Pliny's statement, the ex- 

 istence of the Cherry as a native of Britain 

 has been questioned ; but Mr. Knight was 

 of opinion that Pliny ' must have meant a 

 cultivated variety of the Cherry, of which 

 the Romans had many in his time ; for the 

 small black Cherry which abounds in our 

 woods has much too permanent habits to 

 have been derived from any cultivated 

 variety.' The species to which Mr. Knight 

 alludes is the C. Avium or C. sylvestris, 

 commonly to be met with in the woods of 

 this and other countries of Europe. Some 

 of its varieties are occasionally found 

 almost equal in size and quality to the cul- 

 tivated sorts. Among these may be men- 

 tioned the Couronne Cherry, so called 

 from its being as black as a crow, which 

 reproduces itself from seed, and is very 

 abundant in several parts of England, and 

 particularly in Hertfordshire. C. vulgaris 

 does not appear to be in general so plen- 

 tiful as C. Avium ; yet there is a variety 

 of it which grows wild, abundantly, by 

 the sides of the Como Lake in Italy, and 

 which proves to be a sort of Morello, but 

 smaller and more round than the common. 

 Varieties resembling it, and evidently be- 

 longing to the same species, have also 

 been found wild in Britain. 



With regard to the present race of cul- 

 tivated Cherries, doubtless many of them 

 were introduced from Holland and Bel- 

 gium. Evelyn says, ' It was owing to the 

 plain industry of one Richard Haines, a 

 printer to King Henry VIII., that the 

 fields and environs of about thirty towns, 

 in Kent only, were planted with fruit trees 

 from Flanders, to the unusual benefit and 

 general improvement of that county to 

 this day.' The Kentish, sometimes called 



