422 
ICOSANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Class X1I< 
1129. PRU'NtlS. W. 
7026 Padus W. 
IB rubra W. 
7027 virginiana Ph. 
7028ser6tina W. 
7029 occidentalis W. 
7030 lusitanica W. 
7031 caroliniana W. 
7032 I,aurocerasus JV. 
7033 Mahaleb JV. 
7034puinila W. 
7035 hyeinalis P. S. 
7036 chamEecerasus W. 
7037 Cerasus W. 
Plum & Cherry. 
Bird-cherry ^ or 
Cornish-Bird 5 or 
Virginian $ ^r 
American-Bird 5f or 
West Indian 1 □ or 
Portugal Laureli or 
Evergreen Bird ± or 
common Laurel* or 
perfumed ^ or 
dwarf 3fe or 
Black choke-ch.a^ or 
bastard-cherry ^ or 
common-cherry 5f 
7038 Pseudo-cerasusLmf^.Chinese-cherry 
7039 semperfl6rens Ehr 
7040 avium W. 
7041 pensiylvanica W. 
7042 nigra W. 
7043 japonica P. S. 
7044 brigantiaca Fz7/. 
7045 domestica W. 
704fi insit'itia W. 
iOil ceraslfera W. 
7048 depressa Ph. 
7049 Chicasa PA. 
7050 maritima Ph. 
7051 Susquehanna Ph 
7052 spinosa W^. 
7053 prostrata W. 
7054 boreal is M^'c^. 
7055 pygmee'a W. 
7056 armeniaca L. 
7026 
Toussaint-ch 
Corone-cherry ^ 
Pensylvanian x 
black 5 
Japan al 
Brian g on Apr. ^ 
common- Plum $ 
Bullace-tree Y 
Myrobalan 
Sand-cherry ^ 
Chicasaw- Plumas or 
sea or 
glaucous-leaved# or 
S'.oe-tree ^ or 
Birch-leaved J± | or 
Choke-cherry 3f 
pigmy or 
common-apric. 3£ fr 
7032 
Rosacea. Sp. 
30 ap.my W 
30 ap.my W 
30 my.jn W 
30 my.jn W 
20 ja.d W 
20 jn W 
30 my W 
12 ap.my W 
20 ap.my W 
2 my W 
4 my W 
8 my W 
20 ap.my W 
6 ap.my Pk 
20 ap.my W 
50 ap.my W 
SO my W 
20 ap.my W 
2 mr.my Pk 
20 ap.mv W 
20 ap W 
20 ap W 
8 ap.my W 
4 my 
6 ap.my 
4 my 
6 my 
15 mr.ap 
1 ap.my Pk 
20 my.jn 
4 my 
15 f.mr 
33—47. 
Britain woods. 
Britain 
Virginia 1724. 
N. Amer. 1629. 
Jamaica 1784. 
Portugal 
Carolina 
Levant 
Austria 
N. Amer. 1756. 
N. Amer. 1805. 
Austria 1597. 
England woods. 
China 1821. 
1648. 
1759. 
1629. 
1714. 
CO 
W 
W 
w 
w 
w 
w 
w 
w 
England ... 
N. Amer. 1773. 
N. Amer. 1773. 
Japan 1810. 
Dauphiny 1823. 
England hed. 
Britain hed. 
N. Amer. 1629. 
N. Amer. 1805. 
N. Amer. 1806. 
N. Amer. 1800. 
N. Amer. 1800. 
Britain hed. 
Crete 1802. 
N. Amer. 1822. 
N. Amer. 1823. 
Levant 1548. 
7033 
L 
L 
L 
L 
L 
S CO 
L CO 
C CO 
G CO 
L s.l 
L s.l 
L S.1 
G s.l 
G CO 
G CO 
S CO 
S CO 
G 
G 
G 
G 
S 
L 
L 
L 
L 
L 
S 
L 
L 
B 
L 
Eng. bot. 1383 
Will, ar.t 4. f.2 
Will. ar. t. 5. f. a 
Dend. brit. 48 
Mill. ic. t.l96.f.l 
Duh. ar. 1. 1. 133 
Jac. aust, 3. t.227 
Mill. ict. 89. f.2 
Jac. ic. 1. t. 90 
Eng. bot. 706 
Bot. reg. 800 
Dend. brit. 131 
Blackw. t. 425 
Will. ar. t. 3. f. 3 
Bot. mag. 1117 
Bot. reg. 27 
Eng. bot. 1783 
Eng. bot. 841 
Eng. bot. 842 
Bot. reg. 136 
Lam. ill. t. 431 
7037 
History, Use, Propagation, Culture, 
1129. Prunus. The origin of this name is wholly unknown. The Greeks called it r^ewvi, and the Latins 
prunus. From this'genus have been obtained the principal characters of that section of the natural order Ro- 
saceae, which is called Amygdaleae or Prunacese, and which is curiously and chemically known by the presence 
of Prussic acid all in the species, and in all their parts. 
P. Padus (a name of Theophrastus), the bird-cherry, is an ornamental tree, by its purple bark, leafy bunches 
of white flowers, and berries successively green, red, and black. It is common in the native woods of Scotland 
and Sweden, and in both countries the berries are infused in spirits in order to give them an agreeable flavor. 
The fruit is nauseous to the taste, though greedily eaten by birds. The bark is used by the Finlanders to cure 
venereal complaints, and also with success by regular practitioners in Stockholm for the same purpose. {Stock- 
holm Acts.) The tree is very leafy, and dislikes a wet soil; but bears lopping as copsewood. The wood is 
beautifully veined, and used for cabinet work in France, as is that of P. virginiana in America. 
P. rubra greatly resembles P. Padus. P. caroliniana is an imperfect evergreen. 
P. Lauro-cerasus is one of our most popular evergreens. It was first brought from Constantinople to Hol- 
land in 1576 ; the first we read of in England was one at Highgate, in the garden of Mr. James Cole, a merchant 
of London, who, as Parkinson informs us, used to cover it in winter with a blanket. In less than half a cen- 
tury afterwards (16881, Ray informs us, the laurel was common in English gardens. It is now as universal in 
shrubberies as the rose. The kernel-like flavor of the fresh leaves has led to their use in flavoring custards and 
other culinary preparations ; but as these leaves are poisonous, they ought to be used with caution. To brute 
animals the effect of the distilled water of laurel leaves is almost instant death j and two women in Dublin, 
and Sir T. Boughton in England, have been poisoned by it. 
P. lusitanica is a most beautiful evergreen shrub, nearly as universal as the lauro-cerasus. It was brought 
to England from Portugal, but does not appear to be a native of that country; probably of Madeira or some 
other islands possessed by the Portuguese in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. 
P. Mahaleb {Mahhaleb the Arabic name) flowers profusely, and disperses an odor resembling that of 
Clematis for a considerable distance around. Its fruit is round, shining black, and so hard that it has been 
bored for beads by the catholics. The wood is perfumed and used by the French in cabinet-work, especially 
in the village of St. Lucie, near Commercy, whence, among the French, the plant has obtained the name of 
Bois de St. Lucie. 
P. Cerasus, the cultivated cherry, is by some considered a distinct species, and by others only a variety of 
P. avium, the gean or wild black cherry. LucuUus is said to have first introduced the cultivated cherry to 
Italy, in 73 A. C. from a town in Pontus in Asia, called Cerasus, whence its specific name, and it was introduced 
to Britain 120 years afterwards. Many suppose that the cherries introduced by the Romans into Britain were 
lost, and that they were re-introduced in the time of Henry VIII. by Richard Haines, the fruiterer to that 
monarch. But though we have no proof that cherries were in England at the time of the Norman conquest, 
or for some centuries after it ; yet Warton has proved, by a quotation from Lidgate, a poet who wrote about 
