PL 325. 
DWARF MUME TREES AS GROWN IN JAPAN. 
(Primus mume Sieb. and Zucc.) 
The mume, or Japanese apricot, normally a tree 15 to 20 feet 
high, is sometimes trained by Japanese horticulturists in 
the dwarf form shown above. The flowering cherry is the 
favorite flower of the Japanese people, whereas the flowering 
mume is the favorite of the Japanese poets and artists 
because of its more picturesque branching habit and its fra- 
grance. It has been confused by many with the flowering 
plum, but it is really allied to the apricot. In the latitude 
of Washington, D. C, 15 varieties of mume have been 
planted, and 10 of them have survived the severe winters 
of the past 15 years. The trunk seems peculiarly resist- 
ant to the attacks of the peach borer and to crown-gall; 
while the fr\iits, which are among the sourest known, yield 
when pickled one of the staple relishes of the Japanese 
menu. (Photographed by K. Tamari, Kagoshima, Japan.) 
