OCR Text |
Show 344 FlWlTS. CIIAI', X. flowered peaches have tho singular property 00 of frequently producing double or treble fruit. li'inally, there is good reason to believe that tho peach is an almond profoundly modified; but whatever its origin may bavo been, thoro can bono doubt that it has yielded dUl'ing the last eighteen centmios ma,ny varieties, some of them strongly characterised, belonging both to tlto nectarine and peach form. _.Jpricot (l'ntntts w·nw?tiaw).-It is commonly admitted that tbis tree is descended from a single species, now found wild in tho Caucasian rogion.60 On this view tho varieties deserve notice, because they illustrate difforoncos supposed by some botanists to be of specific value in the almond and plum. 'rho best monograph on the apricot is by :M:r. 'l'hompson,67 who describes seventeen varieties. We have seen that peaches and nectarines vary in a strictly parallel manner; and in the apricot, which forms a closely allied genus, wo again moot with variations analogous to those of the peach, as well as to those of tho plum. Tho varieties differ considerably in the shape of thc:iJ.· leaves, which are either serrated or crenated, sometimes with car-like appendages at their bases, and sometimes with glands on tho petioles. The flowers are generally alike, but are small in the Masculine. The fruit varies much in size, shape, and in having the suture little pronounced or absent ; in the skin being smooth, or downy as in tho orange-apricot; and in tho flesh clinging to tho stone, as in tho lastmentioned kind, or in readily separating from it, as in the Tul"keyapricot. In all those differences we sec tho closest analogy with tho varieties of tho peach and nectarine. In tho stone we have more important differences, and these in tho case of tho plum have been esteemed of specific value: in some apricots the stone is almost spherical, in others much flattened, being either sharp in front or blunt at both ends, sometimes channelled along the back, or with a sharp ridge along both margins. In the Moorpark, and generally in tho Hemsk:iJ.·ko, tho stone presents a singular character in being perforated, with a bundle of fibres passing through tho perforation from end to end. Tho most constant and important character, according to Thompson, is whether tho kernel is bitter or sweet; yet in this respect we have a graduated diffcroncc, for the kernel is very bitter in Shipley's apricot; in the Hemskirke less bitter than in some other kinds; slightly bitter in the Royal; and "sweet like a hazel-nut" in the Broda, Angoumois, and others. In tho case of the almond, bitterness has boon thought by some high authorities to indicate specific difference. In N. America the Roman apricot ondUl'cs "cold and unfavourable situations, whore no other sort, except the Masculine, will succeed; ·and its blossoms bear quite a severe frost without injmy." 68 According to Mr. Rivers 69 seedling apricots deviate but little from the character of or. 'Journal of Hort. Soc.,' vol. ii. p. 283. 66 Alpb. De Cmtclollo, 'Geograph. Bot.,' p. 879. Gi ''!'ran act. Horl. Soc.' (2nd series), vol. i. 1835, p. 5G. See also ' Cat. of l~ruit in Uartlcn of Jlort. Soc.,' 3rd edit. 1842. 68 Downing, ''.rLe Fruits of America,' 1845, p. 157 ; with respect to tho Albergo apricot iu France, see p. 153. 69 'Gardener's Chronicle,' 1863, p. 364. CIIAI'. X. Al'lUCOT-PLUJ\JS. 345 their race: in France tho Albergo is constantly reproduced from seed with but little variation. In Ladakh, according to MoOTcroft,7° ten varieties of the apricot, very different from each other, are cultivated, and all arc raised from seed, excepting one, which is budded. Ptnms (Prunus insititiu).-Formorly the sloe, P. spinosa, was thought to be the parent of all ouT plums; but now this honoUl' is very commonly accorded to P. ·insititht or tho bullaco, which is found wild in the Caucasus and N.-Westcrn India, and is naturalised in England.71 It is not at all improbable, in accordance with some observations made by Mr. Rivers/2 that both these forms, which some botanists rank as a single species, may be tho parents of our domesticated plums. Another supposed parentform, tho L'. domestica, is said to be found wild in tho region of the • ' l•'ig. 43.-Plum Fltoncs, of naturnlsizc, viewed latcrnlly. 1. Bullnce Plum. 2. Shropshire Damson. 3. llluc Uagc. 4. Orleans. 5. Elvus. 6. Dcnycr's Victoria. 7. Dittmood. Caucasus. Godron remarks73 that the cultivated varieties may be divided into two main groups, which he supposes to be descended from two aboriginal stocks; namely, those with oblong fruit and stones pointed at both ends, having narrow separate petals and upright branches; and those with rounded fruit, with stones blunt at both ends, with rounded petals and spreading branches. From what we know of the variability of tho flowers in the peach and of tho diversified manner of growth in OUl' various fruit-trees, it is difficult to lay much weight on these latter 7° 'Travels in the Himalayan Provinces,' vol. i. 1841, p. 295. 71 See an excellent discussion on this subject in llewett C. Watson's 'Uybele Britaunica,' vol. iv. p. 80. i 2 'Gardener's Cltroniclc,' 1865, p. 27. 73 ' De l'Espccc, tom. il. p. 94. On the parentage of our plums, see also Alpb. Do Canclollo, 'Geograph Bot.,' p. 878. Also Turgioui-'l'ozzetti, ' Journal Hort. Soc.,' vol. ix. p. 1G4. Also Babington, 'Manual of Brit . . Botany,' 1851, p. 87. |