[Plate 16. ] 



DOUBLE CHINESE PEACH TREES. 



(AMYGDALUS PERSICA; FLORE SEMIPLENO.) 



Hardy Shrubs from China, with the Habit of the Common Peach. 



THE Chinese and Japanese have long been known to possess several fine double varieties 

 of the common Peach tree. Such plants appear in their rude drawings, among their 

 embroidery, and upon their paper hangings. Travellers talk of the exquisite beauty of these 

 things when tortured into dwarfness. They are probably intended by Ksempfer under the 

 name of Primus flore nibro, and Prunus fore pleno, of which last he says : " This is culti- 

 vated because of the beauty and abundance of its flowers. The older and more distorted or 

 deformed it is, the more it is prized.-" Thunberg speaks also of a single white and a double 

 red variety, adding that the Peach is cultivated everywhere in gardens, because of the beauty 

 of its flowers. 



Among the valuable and authentic Chinese drawings in the possession of the Horticul- 

 tural Society — no doubt the finest collection in Europe — the following varieties may be 

 readily distinguished : — 



1. Large semi-double Crimson, with flowers as large as a Sasanqua Camellia; very hand- 



some, petals acute. 



2. Large semi-double Rose ; like the first, but the colour not deeper than that of a China 



Rose. 



3. Large semi-double red; with flowers as large and deep red as No. 1, but with blunt petals, 



somewhat irregularly lobed. 



4. Small semi-double Red ; like the next, but of a deep rich rose colour ; very pretty. 



5. Small semi-double White, with very round petals, not much longer than the stamens. 



When Mr. Fortune was sent to China by the Horticultural Society, he was par- 

 ticularly instructed to procure these things ; and the result has been the acquisition 

 of the two beautiful varieties now represented — namely, a semi-double Ceimson, which 

 is probably the first of the foregoing list, and a semi-double White, which is not found 

 there. These flowered in the garden of the Society, and proved to be great acquisi- 

 tions. They have in all respects the habit of the common Peach tree, except that they are 

 more excitable, in which respect they approach the Almond ; and consequently they are 

 better suited for forcing or for flowering under glass, than in the open air ; because, 

 although hardy, they suffer from wet cold nights, which brown their flowers and ruin their 



