AMYGDALUS. 
ovate, obtuse, concave, inserted into the 
calyx ; the stamina have filaments about 30, 
filiform, erect, shorter by half than the co- 
rolla, inserted into the calyx ; anthers sim- 
ple; the pistillum has a roundish, villose 
germ, simple style, of the length of the sta- 
mens, and headed stigma ; the pericarpium 
is a roundish, villose, large drupe, with a 
longitudinal furrow ; the seed is a nut, ovate, 
compressed, acute, with prominent sutures 
on each side, reticulated with furrows, and 
dotted with small holes. The nut of the 
almond is covered with a dry skin ; that of 
the peach with a small pulp. There are 
seven species, of which we shall notice, 1. 
A. persica, with all the serratures of the 
leaves acute, and the flowers sessile and 
solitary. There are two varieties, viz. the 
peach-tree, with downy fruit, and the nec- 
tarine, with smooth fruit. 2. A. communis, 
the almond-tree, with the lower serratures 
of the leaves glandulous, and the flowers 
sessile and in couplets. The common almond 
has leaves which resemble those of the 
peach, but the lower serratures are glandu- 
lar ; they proceed from buds both above 
and below the flowers, and not, as in the 
peach, from the ends of the shoots above 
and not below the flowers. The form of the 
flowers is not very different ; but they usu- 
ally come out in pairs, and vary more in 
their colour from the fine blush of the apple- 
blossom to a snowy whiteness. The chief 
obvious distinction is in the fruit, which is 
flatter, with a coriaceous covering, instead 
of the rich pulp of the peach and nectarine, 
opening spontaneously when the kernel is 
ripe. The shell is not so hard as in the 
first species, and is sometimes tender and 
very brittle ; it is flatter, smoother, and the 
furrows or holes are more superficial. This 
tree is a great object in some parts of Italy, 
and in the south of France ; and there are 
large plantations of it in Provence and Dait- 
phine. It is common in China, and most of 
the eastern countries ; and also in Barbary, 
where it is a native In the time of Cato 
it seems not to have been cultivated in 
Italy ; for he calls the fruit nuces (Iivecre, or 
Greek nuts. With us it is valuable as an 
ornamental tree in clumps, shrubberies, &c. 
within view of the mansion ; for it displays 
its delicate red-purple bloom in the month 
of March, when few other trees have either 
leaves or flowers. An almond-tree, covered 
with its beautiful blossoms, is one of the 
most elegant objects in nature. In a for- 
ward spring they often appear in February ; 
but in this case the frost generally destroys 
them, and they bear little or no fruit; but 
when they flower in March, they seldom 
fail to bear plenty of fruit, very sweet, and 
fit for the table when green ; but they will 
not keep long. The amygdalus, or almond- 
tree, is cultivated both for the advantage of 
the fruit, and as being highly ornamental in 
shrubberies, plantations, and other descrip- 
tions of pleasure ground, from its coming 
into bloom early in the spring. It is, how- 
ever, less important in the former than the 
latter point of view, as the fruit is often 
liable to miscarry in this climate. All the 
species and varieties of this tree are decidu- 
ous, and of a hardy nature, thriving well in 
most common garden soils. Those of the 
tree kind frequently rise to fifteen or twenty 
feet in height, dividing into many spreading 
branches, which ultimately form beautiful 
heads, that are generally well adorned in 
the beginning of March with innumerable 
flowers, which continue in full bloom for a 
fortnight or three weeks, and are followed 
by the leaves, which are long and narrow, 
and the fruit takes its growth. This is downy, 
rather large, and of an oval form ; consisting 
of a thick, tough, leathery substance, that 
embraces an oblong nut or stone, in which 
the kernel or almond is inclosed, which is 
the only part of the fruit that is capable of 
being made use of. The dwarf, shrubby 
sorts Of this tree do not, however, in general, 
exceed three or four feet in height, having 
slender stems, which send forth a great 
number of small branches near to the 
ground; and in the single -flowered kind 
various suckers are frequently sent up from 
the root. And in both the double and 
single-flowered almond-tree, all the young 
branches are thickly beset with flowers in 
the spring, which, from their having a fine 
pale red colour, and continuing some time 
in blow, are highly ornamental. The single 
sort have their flowers coming out about The 
end of March, and the double kind in the 
beginning of April, each remaining about a 
fortnight in blow. The sorts chiefly culti- 
vated for use in this country are, according 
to Mr. Forsyth, the tender-shelled almond, 
the sweet almond, the common, or bitter 
almond, the sweet Jordan almond, and the 
hard-shelled almond. Those propagated 
only for ornament are the dwarf and the 
double - flowering almonds.— — Amygdalus 
Persica, or peach-tree. Its native coun- 
try, is not knownr. It came to the Romans 
from Persia, as its Latin name, malus Per- 
sica, indicates ; and it has been cultivated 
from time immemorial in most parts of Asia ; 
L 2 
