28. POMACEiE. 
258 
Commonly cult, everywhere, but principally in the parish of 
CaniQO and the Valley of Machico. FI. Dec.-Apr. ; fr. July- 
Sept. — A pyramidal tr. 20-40 ft. high. L. mostly quite entire, 
smooth and shining when adult. FI. snow-white scentless, 
appearing just before the 1. Fr. very variable in size, shape, 
colour, flavour and season, but mostly more or less attenuated 
into the footstalk and not umbilicated at the base. 
The pears in Mad. are in general of indifferent quality, and 
even the best English sorts become stony, dry and flavourless. 
The sorts most esteemed or commonly cult, are, according to 
Sr. Moniz, Per as Flamengas, P. de Ref ego, P. Bojardas , P. Car- 
valhaes, Bergamotas , Furneiras , Formigas , Saramanhas , Quan- 
quans , &c., with upwards of 20 others. 
F'H'2. P. Malus L. Apple. Pereiro or Maceira. 
L. simple ovate shortly or abruptly acuminate cremate or 
obtusely serrate, white and tomentose beneath, petioles not 
half the length of the 1. ; buds tomentose ; fl. in sessile umbels, 
ped. and cal. tomentose, styles combined downwards ; fr. globose 
umbilicate at the base, fleshy, mostly sweet. — Brot. ii. 329; 
DC. ii. 635. P. Malus tomentosa Koch 261 ; Bab. 114. 
Malus communis Desf. i. 398. — Tr. per. Mad. reg. 2, ccc. Every- 
where cult, in gardens. Fl. March, April; fr. Aug. -Oct. — A 
low spreading tr. 15-30 ft. high, with a strong branched root. 
Young shoots, 1. beneath, and cal. -tube downy or cottony. Fl. 
blush-pink in bud and on first opening, fading into nearly 
white, fragrant. Fr. never hard, harsh, or austere, mostly de- 
pressedly globose and even hollow at the crown, always more 
or less umbilicate at the insertion of the usually short footstalk. 
Even the best English sorts (such as the true Golden Pippin, 
introduced by a former British Consul Mr. Veitch, and thriving 
well at the Jardim) retain their excellence for a short time 
only after being gathered : and the generality of Apples in 
Mad. may be pronounced of very inferior quality. The best 
( Peros jinos) are the Maqdas Barraes (a large much depressed 
golden-y. apple), Reinetas, Cara de Patna, Pino (Vouro, & c. 
( )ther inferior sorts of more common occurrence are Peros de 
rime, P. dos Canhas , d'estnpa, batoqucs, doces, &c. 
Without personal study and investigation it may seem rash, 
in opposition to the stream of most practical botanists, to en- 
dorse the idea of I)e Candolle, that the original stock of the 
garden Apple (P. Malus DC.) is specifically distinct from our 
common English wild Crab (P. acerba DC., P. Malus a, Koch 
and Bab. 11. cc., P. Malus EH. t. 179). It may serve however 
