176 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ AUGUST, 
shortly petiolate, bearing here and there on the edges some very short teeth. 
The leaflets are, moreover, coriaceous, deep shining green above, bright rather 
glaucescent green underneath, and traversed by a yellowish midrib. 
This tree, which was introduced from China by M. Eugene Simon in 1862, 
proves to be very hardy and of rapid growth. The roots are red, branched, 
and fleshy, like those of most of the species of Uhus. At the period of the fall 
of the leaf, the common petiole, or rachis, is of a pale yellow. The mother- 
plant, growing in the garden of the Museum at Paris, measures now nearly 
8 in. in diameter at about a yard from the ground, while its total height is 
about 26f ft. It is a hardy species, which does not suffer even from the 
greatest cold. A plant of C. sinensis^ planted in the establishment of MM. 
Thibaut and Keteleer, at Sceaux, has very rapidly attained a height of 13Jft. 
M. Carriere, in the article from which these remarks and figure are taken, adds 
that under the name of Ailantus Jlavescens^ this Cedrela sinensis will be found in 
the establishments of MM. Thibaut and Keteleer, Sceaux ; M. Leroy, Angers; 
MM. Simon-Louis freres, Plantieres-les-Metz ; M. Dauvesse, Orleans, &c.—T. M. 
THE MEDLAK AND ITS CONSERVE. 
C^^HE Medlar, Mespilvs fjermanica^ belongs to the great natural order 
Rosacece^ which, understood in its widest sense, comprises the most im¬ 
portant fruits of the temperate regions of the world, such as the Apple, 
Pear, Peach, Cherry, &;c.. The fruit of the Medlar is somewhat peculiar 
in its character, and is quite unfit for consumption until it has attained to a 
degree of ripeness which has very much the appearance of decay or rottenness ; 
and although it does not rank amongst the choicest of fruits, it nevertheless 
forms a very desirable addition to the dessert during the latter months of the year, 
and is much relished by some persons. A tree of each of the three varieties 
should certainly find a place in every collection of fruit-trees. On account of 
being remarkably hardy and blooming late in the season, the embryo fruit 
generally escapes the destructive effects of late spring frosts, which so frequently 
prove disastrous to the crops of most other kinds of fruit. Indeed, I am acquainted 
with an old Medlar tree which, during the last twenty or more years, has never 
failed to produce an abundant crop of fruit. 
Little need be said as regards the culture of this fruit, as, if the trees are 
merely planted in ordinarily good soil, they will generally manage to take care of 
themselves; and if let alone, will generally form very handsome ornamental 
trees. One circumstance in connection with the fruit may not be generally 
known, namely, that a conserve can be made from it which is unsurpassed by 
that of any other kind of fruit, whether of home or foreign production. This 
conserve very much resembles that made from the Guava, but is by many pre¬ 
ferred to it. [We can attest the excellency of this conserve.— Ed.] 
There are three distinct varieties of the Medlar grown in this country, viz., 
the Dutch, the Nottingham, and the Stoneless. The first-named is much the 
