86 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



37613 to 37622— Continued. 



37617. Malus PRUNiFOLiA (Willd.) Borkh. Siberian crab apple. 



{ryrus prunifolia Willd.) 



See S. P. I. Nos. 27124 and 30251 for previous introductions and S. P. I. 

 No. 37590 for description. 



37618. Mespilus germanica L. Medlar. 

 See S. P. I. No. 29197 for previous introduction. 



"A low deciduous tree of crooked, picturesque habit, usually under 

 20 feet high ; young branchlets very hairy, older ones armed with stiff, 

 straight spines one-half to 1 inch long. Leaves almost without stalks, 

 lanceolate or oval, 2 to 5 inches long, minutely toothed ; downy on both 

 surfaces, but more so beneath. Flowers solitary at the end of short 

 leafy branches ; about 1 inch across, white or slightly pink, produced 

 on a very short, woolly stalk in May or early June. Petals five, roundish ; 

 sepals covered with gray wool, triangular at the base, drawn into a long, 

 narrow point standing out beyond the petals. Fruit five celled, apple 

 shaped, brown, with a broad, open eye, surrounded by the persistent 

 calyx, and showing the ends of the bony seed vessels. 



" The wild medlar is a native of Europe and Asia Minor and is found 

 wild in the woods of several counties in the south of Fngland, notably 

 Sussex and Kent, but it is not believed to be truly indigenous. It has 

 long been cultivated for its fruit in English orchards, and several named 

 varieties exist. The cultivated forms are distinguished by thornless or 

 nearly thornless branches, by larger, broader leaves, and by larger fruits, 

 up to or 2 inches across. Although much esteemed by those who have 

 acquired the taste for them, medlars are not a popular fruit. They 

 should be left on the tree until the end of October or later, then stored 

 in a fruit room until they are ' bletted ' — a term given to indicate a- state 

 of incipient decay. A jelly made from the fruits meets a more' general 

 taf«te. The medlar is most closely allied to Crataegus, differing in the 

 solitary flower, etc. It is very hardy and not particular as to soil." 

 (W. J. Bean, Trees and 8hrul)s Hardy in the British Isles, vol. 2, p. 

 81-82.) 



37619. Pbttnits domestica insititia (Jusl.) Schneider. Bullace. 

 (Prunus institia Jusl.) 



" This species of Prunus is a tall, much-branched shrub, which some- 

 times attains a height of 20 feet. The flowers are white and appear on 

 the branches before the leaves. The lateral clusters are only one to two 

 flowered. The fruit of this species is globose, nearly black, and in the 

 wild state about one-half inch in diameter." (Britton and Broum, Illus- 

 trated Flora of thf Northern States and Canada.) 



"A small deciduous tree with foliage similar to that of Prunus com- 

 munis, but with some of its branches spiny. Fruit globular, three-fourths 

 inch in diameter, black or yellow; several white-fruited varieties are 

 grown in orchards. The bullace is a native of Britain and other parts 

 of Europe. Being found in many hedgerows, the typical form scarcely 

 deserves a place in the arboretum, but the double-flowered variety is 

 more ornamental. P. spinosa, insititia, and communis are by some 

 authorities considered as all forms of one species. It is easy enough 

 to distinguish P. spinosa by its black bark, its small, sharply toothed 



