- I
Spec. Char., ó'c. Leaves oblong, acuminate, downy beneath ; leaf buds hairy
inside. Flowers small, reddish white. Fruit size of a cherry, yellow when
ripe, swect with astringency: it is recommended as a cure for diarrhcea.
{Don's Mill.) A low tree. Caucasus, the woods of ilyrcania, and the
whole coast of the Caspian Sea, and Mauritania. Iieight 20 ft. to 30 ft.,
and sometimes much higher. Introduced in 1596. Flowers i-eddish, or
yellowish white ; July. Fruit yellow ; ripe in October.
The leaves are of a beautiful dark glossy green above, and, when mature,
and exposed to tiie air, assume a purplish hue beneath: they do not change
colour in autumn, but drop off simultaneously with the first attack of sharp
frost. Ripening its fruit freely in the South of France and Italy, seeds have
been readily jirocured ; and the jfiant has never been rare in British collections
; but, as it is somewhat tender, there are few la ge specimens of it. It
grows at the rate of 12 or 18 inches a year, for the first ten years, especially if
the soil in which it is planted is free and loamy, and rich rather than poor.
Y 2. D. v i r g i n i a ' n a L. The Virginian Date Plum, or Persimon.
Identification. Lin. Sp., 1510. ; Don’s Mill, 4. p. 39.
Synonyme. Gtiaiacànn Catesb. Car. 2. t. 7C.
Jsngravings. Dendr. Brit., t. 140, ; tlie plates in Arb. Brit., 1st edit. ; aud ourfig. 1215.
121.5. D. virginiàna.
Spec. Char., c^c. Leaves ovatc-oblong, acuminated, glabrous, shining above.
and paler beneath, reticulately veined. Petioles short and curved, and, as
well as the branchlets, downy. Leaf buds glabrous. Flowers quadrifid,
rarely quinquefid. Flowers pale yellow. (Don’s Mi/l.) A low tree. United
States. Height 20 ft. to 30 ft. in the neighbourhood of London, but much
higher in the United States. Introd. in 1629. l'lowers pale yellow ; July.
Fruit yellow ; ripe about the time the tree drops its leaves in November.
The persimon is readily distinguished from the European date plum, by
its leaves being nearly of the same shade of green on both surfaces; while
those of the latter are of a dark purplish green above, and much paler, and
furnished with somewhat of a pinkish down, beneath. The leaves of the persimon
vary from 4 in. to 6 in. in length ; and, when they drop off in the
autumn, they are often variegated with black spots. It is rather more tender
than the preceding species; and, to thrive, requires a peaty or soft soil, kept
somewhat moist.
Y3. D. (v.) p u b e 's c e n s Pursh. The downy-Zeawi/ Virginian
Date Plum.
Identification. Pursb Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 2G5.; Don’s Mill., 4. p. 38.
Synonyme. D. virginiiinii var. Michx. Arb. For.
Engraving. O u r j^ . 1216., from a specimen m Dr. Lmdley’s herbarium.
Spec. Char., 4c. Leaves oblong, acute, downy beneath.
Petioles long. Fruit few-seeded. (Don’s Mill.) A low
tree. Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia. Height 20 ft. to
30ft. Introduced in 1812. Flowers pale yellow; July.
Horticultural Society’s Garden.
Other Kinds of hardy Diospyros.—There are several names
in the catalogues of American nurserymen, and in 1836 ^
there were plants corresponding to these names in the
Hort. Soc. Garden. These we have examined, and we are
perfectly satisfied that they are only slight variations of D.
virginiàna, and, in short, that this is the only North American
species. D. lùcida, D. intermèdia, B . digyna, and D. jgig. ». (,.) pub&cens.
stricta are included in the above remarks.
O r d e r XLVIII. OLEA'CEÆ.
Ord. Ch a r . Floivers hermaphrodite, sometimes diceciousi Calyx divided,
permanent. Corolla 4-cleft ; sometimes 4-petaled. Petals connected by
pairs, rather valvate in æstivation ; sometimes wanting. Stamens 2, alternating
with the segments or petals. Anthers 2-celled ; cells dehiscing lengthwise.
Ovarium simple, guarded by no glandular disk, 2-celled ; cells 2-seeded.
Ovules pendulous, collateral. Style simple or wanting. Stigma bifid or
undivided. Fruit drupaceous, baccate or capsular, often l-sceded by abortion.
Seeds with dense copious albumen. Embryo middle-sized, longitudinal,
straight. Cotyledons foliaceous, half free. Radicle superior. Plumide
inconspicuous.—Trees and shrubs, natives of both hemispheres, and for the
most part deciduous. (Doris Mill.)
Leaves simple or compound, opposite, exstipulate, deciduous or evergreen ;
entire or serrated. Flowers racemose or panicled, terminal or axillary, with
opposite unibracteate pedicels.
The Syringa supplies some of our most beautiful deciduous shrubs, and the
Ligustrum and Phillÿrea some useful evergreens. Some of these, as Prâxi-
nus, arc timber trees. All the species are remarkable for the production of
numerous white fibrous roots, in dense masses, near the surface of the
s s 2
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