210 
PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
(1) To take note how many pair of silk stockings thou hast, viz. these, and 
those that were thy Peach-coloured ones !— 2 nd Henry IV, ii. 2, 17. 
(2) Then there is here one Master Caper, at the suit of Master Threepile 
the mercer, for some four suits of Peach-coloured satin, which now 
peaches him a beggar.— Measure for Measure, iv. 3, 10. 
The references here are only to the colour of the Peach 
blossom, yet the Peach tree was a well-known tree in Shake¬ 
speare’s time, and the fruit was esteemed a great delicacy, and 
many different varieties were cultivated. Botanically the Peach 
is closely allied to the Almond, and still more closely to the 
Apricot and Nectarine; indeed, many writers consider both the 
Apricot and Nectarine to be only varieties of the Peach. 
The native country of the Peach is now ascertained to be 
China, and not Persia, as the name would imply. It probably 
came to the Romans through Persia, and was by them intro¬ 
duced into England. It occurs in Archbishop FElfric’s “ Voca¬ 
bulary,” in the tenth century, “ Persicarius, Perseoctreow; ” and 
John de Garlande grew it in the thirteenth century, “In vir- 
gulto Magistri Johannis, pessicus fert pessica.” It is named in 
the “ Promptorium Parvulorum ” as Peche, or Peske, frute— 
“Pesca Pomum Persicum;” and in a note the Editor says: “In 
a role of purchases for the Palace of Westminster preserved 
amongst the miscellaneous record of the Queen’s remembrance, 
a payment occurs, Will le Gardener, pro iij koygnere, ij pichere 
iijv.—pro groseillere iijd. pro j peschere vj d.’ a.d. 1275, 4 
Edw: i—” 
We all know and appreciate the fruit of the Peach, but 
few seem to know how ornamental a tree is the Peach, quite 
independent of the fruit. In those parts where the soil and 
climate are suitable, the Peach may be grown as an ornamental 
spring flowering bush. When so grown preference is generally 
given to the double varieties, of which there are several, and 
which are not by any means the new plants that they are 
generally supposed to be, as they were cultivated both by 
Gerard and Parkinson. 
