ICOSANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Prunus. 593 
Anderson. In every wood near Keswick, and in Ennersdale. Mr. Winch. 
Arniston woods, near Edinburgh. Dr. Greville. But no where with more 
pleasing effect than in the romantic Dovedale, does— 
• “ The light Bird Cherry hangs its flag, 
In snowy splendour from the crag.” E.) 
T. May.* 
P. cek/asus. Umbels mostly on short fruit-stalks: leaves egg-spear¬ 
shaped, smooth, plicate: (slightly downy beneath. E.) 
( E. Bot. 706. E.)— Sheldr. 54. 1 and 6 — Hunt. Evel. 188. 1. p. 181. Ed. ii. 
—Black w. 449 — Matth. 233 and 235 — Bod. 808. 1 — Ger. 1502. 1— Ger . 
1319. 1 — Fuchs. 425 — J. B. i. a. 220— Trag. 102 6~Lonic. i. 13. 2. 
(A moderate sized tree with smooth, greyish, horizontally splitting bark. E.) 
Leaf-scales toothed. Floral-leaves three-cleft, serrated ; the intermediate 
one leafy. The terminal buds producing leaves, the lateral ones flowers, 
which are from the last year's shoots. Blossoms white. Fruit red. Linn. 
(Leaves on leaf-stalks, sharp-pointed, unequally serrated, veined; the 
younger ones more or less pubescent. Calyx reflexed. Nut hard, smooth. 
FI. Brit. E.) 
Wild Cherry-tree. (Green Tree, in Scotland. Irish: Cran silin. 
Welsh: Ceriosen. S. W. Sirianen. N. W. E.) Woods and hedges not 
uncommon. (In Hertfordshire growing to a large size. Mr. Woodward. 
Many fine trees of this sort grow at Whixley, near Wetherby. Dr. 
Hunter. E.) T. May.t 
* The Bird Cherry grows well in woods, groves, or fields, but not in a moist soil. It 
bears lopping and suffers the grass to grow under it. Thefruitis nauseous: but bruised, and in¬ 
fused in wine or brandy, it imparts an agreeable flavour. (Dr. Clarke says, the Swedes flavour 
their distilled spirits with the blossoms. E.) A strong decoction of the bark is used by the 
Finlanders to cure syphilitic complaints ; which practice is corroborated by the testimony of 
M. Broerland in the Stockh. Tr. He directs six ounces of the dry, or eight of the fresh 
bark, to be boiled in eight to four pints of water. The dose is four ounces, four times a day. 
—It alone cures the slighter infections, and combined with Mercury facilitates the cure of 
the severer states of the disease. Venel. A decoction of the berries is sometimes given with 
success in dysentery. The wood being smooth and tough is made into handles for knives, and 
whips, (and is used in cabinet work. The twigs are tough and pliant, and serviceable for withs. 
E.) Sheep, goats, and swine eat it. Cows are not fond of it. Horses refuse it. (Erineum 
Padi, Grev. Scot. Crypt. 157. 1; “in distinct roundish patches, whitish when young, 
changing to orange and deep brown,” may be observed on the leaves. E.) 
F (In France the Wild Cherry-tree is admitted as an ornament to avenues and parks ; 
but, 1 hough it will attain to considerable height, and is attractive when in full blossom, it 
can be deemed little more than the beauty of a day. The double-blossomed, (of which 
dwarfs may be procured), and the red-flowering varieties, have strong claims to admittance 
into the shrubbery; especially the former, whose multiplicate and snow-w 7 hite petals, 
displayed on long, slender footstalks, obtain universal admiration. E.) The Cherry-tree 
loves a sandy soil, and an elevated situation. The gum that exudes from this tree is equal 
to gum arabic, (obtained from certain species of Acacia) though differing in chemical quali¬ 
ties. E.) Hasselquist relates, that more.than one hundred men, during a siege, were kept 
alive for nearly two months, without any other sustenance than a little of this gum taken into 
the mouth sometimes, and suffered gradually to dissolve. (To produce an effect so surprising, 
we must suppose it to operate in a two-fold manner,—both by lubricating the coats of the 
stomach and obtunding the inordinate action of the gastric fluid, as also, though perhaps in 
a secondary degree, by its nutritive quality; in which it would appear even to approach 
animal gluten, which yields so extraordinary a degree of support in the form of portable 
soup, or cavalry balls, and experienced in the late campaigns. (It is remarkable that the 
barks of all the trees which furnish this bland mucilaginous substance are highly astringent; 
that of the Acacia itself is used in India for tanning ; and in our country the Cherry and 
Plum trees, which also yield gum, have astringent barks.” Edin. Dispens. The fruit, 
B % 
