232 
26. AMY GD ALACEA3. 
izecl in beds of Opuntia above the Gorgulho to the W. of Fun- 
chal, and in gardens frequent. Throughout the year. — A shr. 
about 5 or 6 ft. high, remarkable for its straggling stiff dark- 
brown branches, scanty foliage, small 1. and lfts., and copious 
balls 4-8 lines in diam. on slender pubescent stalks f-1 in. long of 
deliciously fragrant golden-y. fl. These retain their very peculiar 
fragrance even when dry, and are frequently scattered over or 
amongst clean linen sent home from the wash. Pods smooth 
dark reddish-brown very hard and stiff, round thick horn-like 
more or less curved or crooked, sometimes nearly straight, 
about 3 in. long and nearly \ in. thick ; falcate when young. 
f ttOrder XXVI. AMYGDALACEiE. 
The Almond Family. 
Fl. perfect regular. Cal. deciduous ; sep. 5 combined into a 
tube below, not adhering to the ovary, imbricate in bud. Pet. 
5 equal deciduous inserted on a disk or ring in the throat of the 
cal., convolute in bud. Stam. 15-30 inserted with the pet. 
Ov. a single free 1-celled 2-ovulate carpel. Style 1 terminal ; 
stigma capitate. Fr. a more or less fleshy drupe , grooved or 
furrowed on one side, containing a single hard bony nut or 
stone enclosing mostly (by abortion of the other ) only one seed 
or kernel with fleshy cot., straight embryo, and without albumen. 
— Gum-forming tr. or shr. sometimes spiny, with scaly buds. 
L. simple stalked. Stip. free deciduous. Fl. w. or pink mostly 
earlier than the 1. Fr. edible. The presence of prussic or hy- 
drocyanic acid in the 1., bark, and seeds also characterizes this 
family. 
fft 1. Amygdalus. Drupe mostly velvety -pubescent, rarely 
smooth, not pruinose ; snell or stone sinuously grooved or 
rugose. — L. conduplicate. Fl. earlier than 1., w. or pink. 
( Amygdalus and Persica Tournef., DC.) 
fff2. Prunus. Drupe mostly smooth and pruinose or co- 
vered with a glaucous waxy coat (bloom), sometimes vel- 
vety ; shell compressed even , one edge (the ventral) keeled 
or grooved. — L. convolute. Fl. earlier than 1., mostly w. Fr. 
v.-blue, purple, ory. ( Prunus and ^ rm em aca Tourn ef. , D C . ) 
3. Ckrasus. Drupe globose mostly umbilicated at the base, 
smooth, without bloom ; shell subglobulose, keeled and grooved 
on one (the ventral) edge, mostly even on the sides. — 
L. conduplicate. Id. mostly w. Fr. red, y., or black 
(atropurpureous). 
t++l. Amygdalus L. 
ft+l. A. communis E. Almond. Amendoa; the tr. Amcndoeira. 
L. smooth elliptic-lanceolate serrulate; fl. solitary, cal. cam- 
