PT RE* THRUM. 



2 



36 



py'rus. 



Pulmona x ria. — Boraginece.—W&x- 

 baceous plants with rather ornamental 

 flowers, natives of Europe and Ame- 

 rica, which will grow in almost any 

 soil and situation. 



Pu v nica. — Granatdcetz or Myr- 

 tacece. — The Pomegranate is a very 

 handsome deciduous shrub or low 

 tree, which, in the climate of Lon- 

 don thrives against a conservative wall, 

 and produces fruit which attain their 

 full size, though they but seldom 

 ripen. The fruit, which is of a glo- 

 bular shape and retains the calyx, has 

 been admired for its form from the 

 earliest ages, and is one of the most 

 conspicuous ornaments directed to be 

 used in the construction of Solomon's 

 temple. There is a double-flowered 

 variety, which, during the seventeenth 

 and eighteenth centuries, was the 

 most favourite plant in Continental 

 and British orangeries next to the 

 Orange and the Lemon ; and there 

 is also a dwarf double-flowered va- 

 riety, which, when kept in a green- 

 house, produces its flue vermilion 

 flowers from August to November. 

 The plant requires loamy soil and an 

 airy situation ; and care should be 

 taken in pruning it not to cut out the 

 small lateral twigs or spurs, on which 

 alone the blossoms are produced, 

 which should be left projecting from 

 the wall. It strikes root freely from 

 ripened cuttings and layers, and the 

 yellow and the white-flowered varie- 

 ties are sometimes grafted on the 

 common kind. 



Pu'rshia. — Rosacea. — A little 

 North American shrub with small 

 yellow flowers, which is quite hardy, 

 and should be grown in sandy peat. 

 It is propagated by layers. 



Pyre'thrum. — Composite. — 

 Feverfew. Most of the species are 

 hardy perennials, which only require 

 planting in the open garden and the 

 usual treatment of perennial plants. 

 According to the latest arrangements 



of botanists, the Chinese Chrysanthe- 

 mums are now included in the genus 

 Pyrethrum. 



Py v rus. — Rosacea. — The Apple 

 and Pear Trees. The different kinds 

 of Crabs and Pears are very orna- 

 mental from their blossoms, independ- 

 ently of the utility of the fruit of 

 some of the species. The ornamental 

 kinds are all low trees, admirably 

 adapted for the lawn or the shrub- 

 bery ; they are all of easy culture in 

 any common garden soil ; and they 

 are propagated by grafting the 6ner 

 on the more common kinds. To 

 thrive and look well, however, they re- 

 quire an airy situation, and not to be 

 crowded among other trees. Most of 

 the species, and especially the Crabs, 

 are very liable to be attacked by in- 

 sects in the leafing and flowering sea- 

 sons ; and they should then be care- 

 fully watched, and the caterpillars 

 picked off as soon as they are visible. 

 Among the kinds most worthy of 

 notice are the following : Pyrus spec- 

 tdbilis, the Chinese Crab or Garland- 

 flowering Wild Apple, producing the 

 most showy flowers of the whole ge- 

 nus in May, and as hardy as the com- 

 mon Crab or Wild Pear. P. coro- 

 naria, the Sweet-scented Crab, with 

 large and beautiful pink blossoms, 

 highly fragrant, as is the first. P. c. 

 angustifolia, the narrow-leaved 

 Sweet-scented Crab, with blossoms 

 as beautiful as the former, and with 

 the leaves sub-evergreen. This, and 

 the two preceding kinds, have the 

 fruit green when ripe, andfragrant, but 

 it is not good to eat. Pyrus baccata 

 and P. prunifolia, the two kinds of 

 Siberian Crab, have very showy blos- 

 soms, and small red or yellow fruit, 

 useful in cookery. These are the 

 principal ornamental species of the 

 Crab or Apple kind, unless we except 

 one, the Moscow or Transparent Crab, 

 Pyrus Astracdnica, which has fruit 

 almost as large as a golden Pippin, 



