112 



F.EDS AXD USEFUL FLAZS'TS. 



Oeder XXYI. KOSA'CE^. (Rose Family.) 



Frees, shrub's or lierlis with alternate stij)ulate leaves, and regular j?oicers having a calyx of a 

 (rarely 3-4 or 8) sepals more or less united, often wiili as many bracts, and pdals as 

 many as the sepals, inserted with the numerous (rarely few) sMmens on the cah'x. FisiUs 

 1-many, free, or (in the Pear trihe) united within the calyx-tube. ' Seeds 1-few io. each 

 ovary, without aTbumeii ; radtd€ straight. 



This' Order — comprising about sixty genera — is remarkable for the amount and variety 

 of its esculent products. ]!ilany of the fruits are valuable, and some of them eminently 

 dehcious, while the type of the Order (Rosa) is by universal consent regarded as the 

 queen of beauty among flowers. A few of the drupaceous species of the Order contain a 

 dangerous quantity of Frussic Acid, in the nuts and leaves : but the fleshy or succulent 

 fruits are, almost without exception, iimocent and wholesome. 



1. The Almoxd Sub-fam:ily. 



Ovaries sohtary, free from the deciduous calyx. Style torminal. Fruit 

 a drupe (stone-fruit). Trees or shrubs ; the bark exuding gum ; the 

 bark, leaves and kernels possessing the 'pecuhar flavor of prussic acid. 

 Stipules free. 



Stone of the fruit rough. Petals rose-color. 1. 

 Stone of the fruit smooth. Petals white. 



Persica. 

 Armenia CA. 



Stone flattened, with grooved edges. Skin of fruit downy. 

 Stone more or less flattened, generally margined. 



Fruit with a bloom. 3. Pkt-sts. 



Stone roundish or globular. Fruit without a bloom. 3. Frt::sts. 



2. The Eose Sub-familt. 



Ovaries many or few, separate from each other and from the calyx, 

 out sometimes enclosed by and concealed in its tube. Styles lateral 

 or terminal. Fruit either follicles or httle drupes. Herbs or shrubs, 

 rarely trees, with simple or compound leaves. Stipules usually united 

 with the petiole. 



Pistils 5, forming foUicles in fruit. Calyx 5-cleft. Styles terminal. 4. 

 Pistils mimerous, forming in fruit dry akenes, tipped with the feathery 



persistent style. Calyx bracteolate, open. 5. 

 Pistils numerous. Styles often lateral, deciduous ; fruit of dry akenes. 

 Calyx bracteolate, open. 



Receptacle of the fruit dry and small. 6. 

 Receptacle of the fruit becoming large and pulpy, edible. 7. 

 Pistils numerous. Styles terminal, deciduous : ovaries becoming little 

 drupes, cohering with one another or with' the receptacle. Calyx 

 open, not bracteolate. S. 

 Pistils numerous, akenes long, enclosed in the tube of the urn-shaped 

 calyx. 9. 



3. Pear Sub-family. 



Calyx-tube fleshy in fruit, forming a pome. Pistils 2-5, their styles 

 more or less separate, their ovaries imited with each other and with 

 the tube of the calyx. 



Cells of the hmt 1 - 2-seeded. Fruit drups-like, containing 2-5 stones. 



Leaves simple. 10. 

 Fruit with 3-5 parchment-hke carpels. Leaves pinnate. Fruit berry- 



Sphlea. 

 Geoi. 



POiE-VliLLA. 



Fragakia. 



RrEus. 

 Rosa. 



CRATiCrS. 



Pyrus. § 3. 



Frars. 

 PvRrs. $2. 



like, scarlet. 11. 

 Leaves simple. 



Fruit tapering to the stalk. 11. 

 Fruit sunk in at both ends. 11. 



Cells of the fruit many-seeded, parchment-hke, enveloped in mnci- 



lage. ' 12. CirDoxiA. 



1. PER'SIOA, Tournef. Peach. 



[A name derived from' Persia, its native country.] 



CaJyx tubular, Avitli 5 spreading segments. Drupe oral, tomentose or 



