
          (59)

34268. PRUNUS DOMESTICA. Prune. From Rome, Italy.
Presented by Dr. Gustav Eisen, of the California Academy of 
Sciences, San Francisco, Cal.  Called Prunaringia; grown near Naples.
Fruit dark green, averaging about 2½ by 1½ inches, elongate ovoid.
Very sweet and highly flavored.  When ripe has one or more vertical
slits on cheek.  Can not stand long shipments, but should prove
excellent for canning and preserving.

37645. PRUNUS GRAYANA. Gray's bird cherry. Presented
by the director, Imperial Botanic Gardens, Petrograd, Russia. Small
ornamental tree.  Native of Japan, 20 to 30 feet high.  Closely
resembles the European bird cherry (P. padus), but has erect (not
drooping) racemes of white flowers about 4 inches long.  These appear
in June and are followed by the black fruits in August.

34601. PRUNUS MIRA. Wild Chinese peach.  From E. H.
Wilson, of Arnold Arboretum.  Thirty-foot tree, discovered north of
Tachienlu, China, at an altitude of 9,000 feet.  Fruit 1 inch in
diameter; fuzzy, with smooth stone; edible. Shows tendency to
bloom late in the spring; may prove useful for breeding purposes or
as stock. Apparently hardy in Massachusetts and in northern
Florida.

28685. PRUNUS MUME. Japanese apricot. From Yokohama, 
Japan.  These belong to the Ume class of Japanese plums
and are quite different from European and American varieties.  The
fruit is exceedingly sour, and is largely used in Japan in the form of
pickles.  The leaves of Perilla arguta are pickled with the fruit and
give it a reddish color.

PRUNUS PROSTRATA. Bush cherry. Native of Turkestan
and the Levant.  An exceedingly variable shrub ranging from a close
stunted bush to a rather free-growing plant 8 feet or more high.
Flowers so profusely as to make it of value as an ornamental.  The
rather small red fruits are sour, but vary greatly in size and flavor.
Should be tested for hardiness and as a factor in hybridization work.

18587. PRUNUS PSEUDOCERASUS. Tanghsi cherry.  From
F. N. Meyer, Chekiang, China.  A distinct species of fruiting cherry,
which though not hardy, deserves study by horticulturists; the true
Prunus pseudocerasus (a name erroneously applied to the Japanese
flowering cherry).  Ten days earlier than the earliest variety yet
fruited in California.  Fruit size of the Early Richmond.  Unusually
vigorous.  May make excellent stock.
        