vvliicli it is distinguished by the young branches being covered with a shinin/r
dark brown gloss, and by having small scarlet berries.—We have never seen it.
32. P. aS'o' r b u s Gærtn. The True Service.
Identification. Gærtn. Fruct., 2, p. 45. t. 87. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 637
Synonifmes. 5órhus doméstica L in . Sp. 6S4. ; P ÿrus domestica Smith in Eng. Bot. t. 350., Wallr
A n n . Bot. 145., Don s Mill. 2. p. 648. ; the Whitty Pear Tre e ; Cormier, or Sorbier cultivé Fr '•
Speyerlingsbaum, or Sperberbaum, Ger. ; Sorbo domestico Ita l or ouruier cumve, . ,
Z’dóÜÍ%. n Z ' ' ’ '■ i
702. P . Sórbus.
Sjiec. Char., 4c. Buds glabrou.s, glutinous, acuminate. Leaflets serrated, villose
beneath, but becoming naked when old. Pome obovate, pear-shaped.
{Dec. Prod.) A tree of the middle size. Europe, chiefly of the middle
region ; found also in some parts of Barbary, particularly in the neioh-
bourhood of Algiers ; and by some considered a native of B ritain. Height
30 ft. to 60 ft. Flowers white; May. Fruit brown ; October. Decaying
leaves yellowish brown. Naked young wood grey, like that of the common
mountain ash.
Varieties. In Du Hamel and the Dictionnaire des Daux et Forêts, eight varieties
of the true service are described ; but in British gardens only the two
following sorts are cultivated : —
I' P . S. 2 malifórmis Lodd. Cat., la Corme-Pomme, Fr., has apple-shaped
fruit. Of this variety there are trees which bear abundantly in the
Horticultural Society’s Garden, and in the Hackney Arboretum.
Y. P. S. 3 pyrifórmis Lodd. Cat., la Corme-Poire, Fr., has pear-shaped
fruit; and of this, also, there are fruit-bearing trees in the places
above referred to.
A tree, in foliage and general appearance, closely resembling the mountain
ash ; but attaining a larger size, and bearing much larger fruit, of a greenish
brown colour when ripe. In France this tree attains the height of 50 or
60 feet : it requires two centuries before it reaches its full size ; and lives to
so great an age, that some specimens of it are believed to be upwards of 1000
years old. It grows with an erect trunk, which terminates in a large pyramidal
head. This tree is readily known from the mountain ash, in winter, by
its buds, which are smooth and green, instead of being downy and black ; in
the beginning of summer, by its leaflets being broader, downy above, and also
beneaffi ; and, in autumn, by its pear or apple shaped fruit, which is four or
five times the size of that of P. aucupària, and of a dull greenish brown
colour. It is said to be 30 years before it comes into a bearing state when it
is raised from the seed ; but, when scions from fruit-bearing trees are grafted on
seedling plants, or on the mountain ash, they come into bearing in a few years
as in the case of other fruit trees. (See Gard. Mag., iv. p. 487.) The wood
of the true service is the hardest and the heaviest of all the indigenous woods,
of Europe. It weighs, when dry, no less than 72 lb. 2oz. per cubic foot.
It has a compact fine grain, a reddish tinge, and takes a very high polish ; but
it must not be employed until it is thoronglily seasoned, as otherwise it is apt to
twist and split. It is much sought after in France, by millwrights, for making
cogs to wheels, rollers, cylinders, blocks and pulleys, spindles and axles ; and
for all those pans of machines which are subject to much friction, and require
great strength and durability. In France, it is preferred to all other
kinds of wood for making the screws to wine-presses. In France, the fruit,
•wiien beginning to decay, is brought to table ; though it is not highly prized,
and is more frequently eaten by the poor than the rich. In Britain, the tree
is chiefly to be recommended as one of ornament and_ rarity. A good, free,
dee{), dry soil, and a sheltered situation, are essential, wherever it is attempted
to grow this tree in Britain. From the specimens in the neighbourhood
of London, it does not appear to suffer from the climate, after it has
been five or six years planted ; but it is rather difficult to establish young
jflants. Seeds may be procured in abundance from France ; and from tliem
stocks may be raised on which the best fruit-bearing varieties may be grafted.
The true service may also be grafted on the pear, the mountain ash, the hawthorn,
and other allied species. The graft should be made close to the
ground, or even under it, on the root ; and care should be taken to retard
the scion previously to grafting it, in order that the stock may be somewhat
in advance of it. On the whole, the operation requires to be performed with
the greatest care ; because this is one of the most difficult of all non-resinoiis
trees to graft successfully. The plants at Messrs. Loddiges’s ripen fruit every
} ear, from the seeds of which numerous young plants have been raised.
Y. 33. P. L A N U G iN o 'sA Dec. The wooWj-lcaocd Service Tree.
Identiticalion, Dec. Prod., 2. p. 637. ; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 646. . .
Simonymes. P. hybrida lanuginósa Hort. -, 56rbus lanuginósa Kit. in L itt., and Lodd. Cat.
Engravings. The plate of this species in Arb. Brit., 1st e d it, vol. vi. ; and oux fig. 793. from a tree
ill the ilorti. ultural Society’s Garden.
Spec. Char., 4c. Buds woolly. Leaflets serrated, woolly beneath. Petiole
woolly. Pome globose. {Dec. Prod.) A fastigiate tree of the middle
size. A hybrid, when and whence originated is uncertain. Iieight 20 ft. to
30 ft. Flowers white; May. Fruit small, like that of the mountain ash,
but seldom coming to maturity.
The trees of this species in Loddiges’s arboretum, and in the Horticultural
Society’s Garden, are very distinct from any other sort, and appear to be
hybrids between P. pinnatifida, or perhaps P. ¿"órbus, and the common mountain
ash. The general form of the tree is fastigiate, with numerous parallel,
rigid, upright shoots. The flowers and fruit resemble those of the mountain
ash, but are smaller : the former are frequently abortive ; and the latter, when
it is produced, is generally without seeds. It is a robust, hardy, vigorous-
growing tree, which comes early into leaf, and is well deserving of a place in
collections. This species, and all the others belonging to the section ¿"órbus,
graft readily on the common hawthorn ; and, as they make very handsome, small,
round-headed trees, beautiful at every season of the year, common hedges
might be grafteil with them at regular distances, and the grafts w’ould grow
up, and become handsome standards.
Im *'