PRUNUS SERRULATA IN FLOWER. (Spring.)
THE DOUBLE-FLOWERED BIRD CHERRY. (Prunus Padus fl. pl.)
| Name. | Country or Origin and Natural Order. | Colour and Season. | General Remarks. |
| Laurocerasus Group. | | | |
| P. ilicifolia | California | White | A tender evergreen with
holly-like leaves, but only
hardy in warm southern and
western countries. It is a
small bush, 6 feet to 8
feet high, and has short
and erect flower racemes
and deep-green leaves. |
| P. Laurocerasus (Cherry Laurel) | East Europe | White | A well-known evergreen, too
freely planted in the past,
and so vigorous as to
over-run the garden in
course of years. The
varieties are more planted
than the type, as they are
handsomer. The most
distinct are Bertini
(latifolia), camelliæfolia,
caucasica, rotundifolia,
and schipkænsis; the last
mentioned is about the
hardiest. |
| *P. lusitanica (Portugal Laurel) | Spain and Portugal | White | A popular evergreen. There
are four
varieties—azorica, which
is very tender; coriacea;
myrtifolia, small narrow
leaves, and bears clipping
well. P. ilicifolia is the
only plant that need be
raised from seed. The
Cherry and Portugal
Laurels, with their
varieties, are usually
propagated by cuttings,
ripened wood of almost any
size being cut into pieces
8 inches or so in length,
and inserted nearly their
full length in the ground.
This can be done from the
time the wood is ripe
enough until the end of the
year. Practically every
cutting will root and make
sturdy plants in a
twelvemonth. The Portugal
Laurel is also largely
raised from seeds, which
are gathered when ripe and
sown immediately without
any preliminary cleaning.
If kept in sand until the
following spring, they
begin to grow before the
season is sufficiently
advanced to sow them, and
if dried, nearly a year is
lost before they germinate. |
PYRUS SINAICA.
| Name. | Country or Origin and Natural Order. | Colour and Season. | General Remarks. |
| Pyrus | Rosaceæ | | An important and beautiful
genus, as it includes the
Pears, Apples, and Quinces
of the hardy fruit garden,
and such trees as the
Flowering Crabs, the White
Beam tree, Mountain Ash,
and Pyrus japonica. It is
divided into seven
sections, viz., Pyrophorum,
which includes the true
pears; Malus, the Wild Crab
apples, parents of many
garden forms; Aria, of
which the White Beam tree
is a good type; Sorbus, in
which is found the Mountain
Ash; Adenorachis, which
only contains the North
American species, Cydonia,
the Quinces, and Mespilus,
with which is placed the
Medlar. These are found
practically throughout the
northern temperate zone,
under varying conditions,
and with one or two
unimportant exceptions, are
all hardy in this country.
The majority of the Pyrus
are trees of considerable
size. A few are small
trees, and about half a
dozen are low-growing and
dense shrubs. All are
deciduous, and will grow in
ordinary garden soil, but
none of them like a cold
and moist soil and
position. Ground that will
grow Apples and Pears well
will suit the Pyruses,
though they will thrive in
considerably poorer soil
than is recommended for
fruit culture. In planting,
the ground should be deeply
trenched, and the bottom
well broken up, any clay or
gravel that is encountered
being thrown out and
replaced with good soil.
Most of the Pyrus root
deeply, and if the soil is
not properly prepared in
the first place they are
apt to fail and get
cankered. Propagation is
done by seeds, budding, or
grafting, and in a few
cases by suckers. The best
ways are given with each
section. |
| Pyrophorum Group (the True Pears). | | | |
| P. betulæfolia | China and Japan | White; early Spring | A small and pretty tree, 15
feet to 20 feet high, with
leaves somewhat like those
of a Birch in shape, though
rather larger. They are on
long petioles, and have a
pleasing sound when ruffled
by the wind. It does not
flower or fruit much until
well established. The white
flowers are in dense
clusters and appear before
the leaves. |
| *P. communis (the Wild Pear) | Europe and Asia | White; Spring | As this is widely
distributed it varies
greatly. The type is more
interesting for its flowers
than for its fruit, which
is hard, gritty, and dry.
It grows 30 to 40 feet
high, and has long
spreading branches, half
pendulous. When the tree is
covered with its white
flowers the effect is very
beautiful. There are
several named varieties,
the best being flore-pleno,
with semi-double flowers;
linearis, with long, narrow
leaves, and pendula,
described by the name. |
| P. nivalis | Eastern Europe | White; Spring | A small spreading tree
which flowers in great
abundance; the fruits are
plentifully produced, and
are nearly globular in
shape, and of fairly good
flavour, but dry. The habit
of the tree and shape and
flavour of the fruit
suggest some of the garden
pears. There is a variety
with leaves variegated with
white. |
| P. sinaica | Asia Minor | White; April | This is one of the few
species worth growing for
their leaves alone, for
during Spring and Summer it
is quite silvery. Although
about 20 feet high in its
native country, it makes
here, as a rule, a small
bushy stunted tree.
|
| *P. salicifolia (Willow-leaved Pear) | Levant | | A beautiful tree, about 15
feet high, and delightful
to make groups of for the
sake of its long and narrow
silvery-white leaves. There
is a creeping variety of
it. The flowers are white,
and the fruits small and
woody, neither of much
account. It is the effect
of the foliage that we must
consider, which is very
charming when waving in the
wind. A good tree for
grouping and for small
gardens, and this remark
applies also to the weeping
form. The Pyrophorum group
will come true from seed,
which is the best way of
propagating them. If not
from seeds they can be
worked on stocks of the
Wild Pear, on which they do
fairly well, though much
better on their own roots.
There are other species in
this section, such as P.
auricularis, P. Michauxi,
P. parviflora, P. Pashia,
and P. sinensis, but the
above are the most
important. |
PYRUS SPECTABILIS ON LAWN. (Spring.)
