PRINOS-PTERIS. 
139 
amv/lis^ (primrose, %..) leaves rugose, 'toothed, hirsute beneath; scape 1-flow- 
ered. Ex. 
auric"ula^ (auricula primrose, %..) leaves serrate, fleshy, obovate ; scape many- 
flowered ; calyx mealy. Ex. 
ve'ris, (cowslip, r-y. %..) leaves rugose, toothed ; limb of the corolla concave; 
neck of the tube oblong ; calyx inflated. 
ela'lior, (oxlip primrose, w, y, %..) stalk many-flowered; limb of the corolla 
flat; flowers in an umbel, pale yellow, the centre deeper yellow ; this is sup- 
posed to be a h3'^brid, betw^een the primrose and cowslip. 
vulga'ris, the English botanists describe the acaulis under this name ; it is the 
polyanthus of the florist. 
PRINOS. 6—1. {Rhamni.) 
veriiciUa'tus, (winter berry, w. J. 17.) stem much branched ; leaves deciduous, 
oval, serrate, acuminate, pubescent beneath ; flowers dioecious, 6 cleft; ste- 
ril ones axillary, sub-umbellate ; fertile ones aggregated, berries globose. 
Berries bright scarlet. 6-8 f. Swamps. 
glaber, leaves evergreen, wedge-form, coriaceous, shining ; pedicels axillary, 
mostly 3-flowered ; berries black and shining, globose. 3-4 f. Ink-berry. 
PROSERPINACA. 3—3. {Hydrocharides.) [From Proserpina, fabled as queen of the lower 
regions.! 
palus"tris, (mermaid-weed, Au. upper leaves lance-linear, serrate ; lower 
ones often pinnatifid; fruit angular, acute, stem procumbent. Wet places. 
fcctina'ta, distinguished from the former, by having the leaves all finely pec- 
tinate, and the fruit with rather obtuse angles. 
PRUNELLA. 1-3 — 1. {Labiates,.) [From^rMwa, a burn, because it heals burns.] 
vulga'ris, var. pennsylvanica, (heal-all, self-heal, J. %.) leaves petioled, ob- 
long-ovate, toothed at the base; lips of the calyx unequal ; upper one trun- 
cate, awned ; stem ascending. 6-12 i. 
PRUNUS. 1^1. {Rosaceai.) [PrwnMs, the Latin name for plum.] 
A. Flowers in racemes. 
virginia'na, (wild-cherry, rum-cherry, cabinet-cherry, w. M. Tj.) racemes 
erect, elongated; leaves oval-oblong, acuminate, unequally serrate, glabrous 
both sides ; petioles generally bearing 4 glands. In open fields, the limbs of 
this tree spread out into an elegant oval top; but in dense forests, it grows 
to a very great height, with a few contracted branches. 
seroti'na, (choke-cherry, w. J. I7.) flowers in lax racemes; leaves oval, short- 
acuminate, opake, doubly and acutely serrate ; midrib bearded on each side 
towards the base ; petiole with 2 glands. 
canaden"si.s, (w. l^-) flowers in racemes; leaves glandless, broad-lanceolate, 
rugose, sharply serrate, pubescent both sides, tapering into the petiole. 
Sjpmo'sft, (English sloe, I7.) peduncles solitary ; leaves lance-oval, pubescent 
beneath; fruit straight ; branches thorny. Ex. 
cera^sics, (garden cherry, w. r. I^.) umbel sub-peduncled; leaves lance-ovate, 
glabrous, conduplicate. Ex, 
domes"lica, (plum, w. M. T^.) peduncles sub-solitary; leaves lance-ovate, con- 
volute; branches thornless. Ya.Y. Juliana, (damson plum,) fruit oblong, 
blue. Var. claudiana, (sweet plum, horse-plum,) fruit round, at first 
green, becoming yellowish. Var. enucleata, (stoneless plum,) the putamen 
obsolete. Ex. 
PSORALEA. 16—10. {Leguminosm.') [From psoralens, scabby ; the plant being more or less 
glandular, which gives it a scurfy appearance.] 
esculen"ta. (bread-root, b. J. %.) villose, leaves quinate-digitate, leafets lance- 
olate, unequal, flat, entire, spikes axillary, dense-flowered; divisions of the 
calyx lanceolate, scarcely as long as the corolla; legume ensiform, beaked; 
root fusiform. The root is used for food by the Indians. 
PTERIS. 21 — 1. (Filices.) [From pteron, a wing, so called from the likeness of its leaves to 
wings.] 
aquili'na, (common brake, Ju. 7]..) frond pinnate, 3-parted ; barren branches 
doubly pinnate, with leafets lance linear, obtuse pinnatitid, toothed ; fertile 
branches pinnate, with leafets pinnatifid ; divisions acutish, all ciliate. 
