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P L A T E CCCCLXIÏ.
M A L U S JAPONICA.
Scarlcf'/ìoxsering Japan Apple.
C L A S S XIL O RDE R V.
ICOSANDRIA PENTAGYNIJ. Twenty Chives. Five Pointais.
GENERIC CHARACTER
CALYX. Perianthium monophyllura, concavum,
(juinquefidum, peisistens.
COROLLA. Petala quinque, subrotunda, concava.
STAMINA. Filamenta viginti, subulata, corolla
breviora, calyci inserta. Anthers: simplices.
PISTILLUM. Germen infemm. St}di 5. Filam
lougitud'ne staminum. Stigmata Simplicia.
PEBICAEPIUM. Pomum subrotnndum, umbilicatum,
carnosum, membranaceum ; loculis
quinqnelocularibus.
SEMINA. Nonnulla oblonga, obtusa, basi acuminata,
hiiic convexa, inde plana.
SPECIFIC
MALUS japónica, foliis alternis, lanceolatls et
spalhulatis, glabris, et lucidis : marginibus
serrulaiis, surt'ruticibus, et interdum arborescentibus.
Rami et ramuli alterni, recti, ad
basin nodosi, colore schisti : floribus fasciculatis,
plerunique quaternis, Isete coccineis
: petalis concavis, quinque vel decern.
JFloret in Martio et Aprili.
EMPALEMENT. Cup one leaf, hol low, five-parted,
and remaining.
BLOSSOM, Five petals, nearly round, and hollow.
CHIVES. Twenty, awl-shaped, and shorter than
the blossom, and inserted into the cup.
Tips simple.
PoiNTALS. Seed-bud beneath. Shafts 5. Thread
the length of the stamens. Summit simple.
SEED-VESSEL. An apple nearly round, navelled,
fleshy, skinny : partitions five loculaments.
SEEDS. Some oblong, obtuse, pointed at the
base, convex on the side, and then flat.
C H A R A C T E R .
JAPAN Apple, with alternate leaves lance- and
spathula-shaped, smooth, and shining : with
finely saWed margins, shrubbyish, and sometimes
growing to a tree. The small and
large branches are alternate and straight out,
knotty at the base, and of a slaty colour.
Flowers grow in bunches mostly of four together,
of a bright scarlet colour. The petals
are concave, and from five to ten in
number. Flowers in March and April.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A petal.
2. The empalement, chives, and pointais.
3 . The same spread open, one tip magnified.
4 . Seed-bud and pointais, summit magnified.
THIS handsome frait-tree will doubtless soon become an object of general cultivation in this country,
f r om the brillianc-e and duration of its fine scarlet blossoms. It is perfectly hardy, but flowers with
most freedom in the shelter of the green-house. The fruit is about the size and shape of a walnut.
W h y or wherefore Pyrus is the generic title adopted for Apple we were at first at a loss to conjecture,
but upon investigation find it built on the egotism too inseparable from human nature, and must confess
ourselves veiy sorry to be under the necessity of placing the defect to its original source; the celebrated
LiniiEBUs, who it appears altered it from JMalus (the genus of Tournefor t ) to Pyrtis, for no other
reason but that his own system (unquestionably the best in almost every other particular) might not
bear any resemblance to that of Tournef. rt Jussieu in the Introduction to his Genera Plantarum, commenting
on this very subject, concludes with this most excellent remark : " Such is the love of undivided
praise !" We have therefor^' returned the genus back to its old standard, not through any desire
to alter, but absolute necessity ; regarding the absurdity of its nomination under the generic title of
Pyrus as alread)' too long retained; for whilst the tree is known by its fruit, that fruit should certainly
b e called by its name.
For the introduction of this fine plant we are indebted to the Hon. C. Greville, in whose conservatory
at Paddington it first flowered, and from whence our figure was taken.
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