COMMON ALMOND.

1103

tmrfk’ Sol ‘tarv or in pairs, earlier than the leaves, arising from scaly

V n /T-v r-* V

— » in in pauoj

Sp I rwit woolly (U. C.)l 1ix ' Oiiar—L eaves oblong-lanceolate, serrulate. Flowers solitary.

Ca-

p -r~*<uai£. Fruit ovoid-compressed, tomentose (D. C.)s ®all tree. Leaves on glandular footstalks, acuminate. Flowers

before the

^auipanulate

larg e, rose-red or white, nearly sessile, appearingPetals fi reddish, campanulate, five-cleft; the segments blunt.

( a p lnx ‘> ovate, irregularly notched, rose-red. Stamens numerousc a j Vx thirty), shorter than the petals, inserted into the mouth of thec °ia ‘ Ovarium woolly; style simple; stigma round. Drupe ovoid,"hen SSef *’ leather y, marked with a longitudinal furrow, where it opensfiljj. ri P e j epicarp greenish-gray, tomentose ; mesocarp (or sarcocarp)°sse 0 S ’ Crac king and dropping off; endocarp {putamen) woody or almost(r are ] US> °hlong or ovate, acute, marked with pits or furrows. Seed onepj tw °) in each drupe.

ca ndolle {Prodr. ii. 530) admits five varieties of this species:—

fitter Almond.—Styles almost as long as the stamens, tomentose below,britti — Stowers larger; petals white, roseate at the base. It varies with a hard6. putamen.

^an the 01,9 ' ^eet Almond. — Leaves ash-green. Flowers earlier. Styles much longerV./•,. s . t ® me iis. Fruit ovate-compressed, acuminate. Seeds sweet. Putamen hard,beatj es ^ Fender-shelled.—Flowers coetaneous. Petals broader, quite emarginate.

sotriewh . ter i petioles thick. Fruit acuminate, sweet. Putamen soft.— Flowers5. roseate.

Toc arpa. Large fruited.—Leaves broader, acuminate, scarcely ash-coloured.® ar d.~_t 7 Sorter, turgid. Fruit larger, umbilicated, acuminate at the apex. Putamen•late, n, lr i i white-roseate, large, appearing before the leaves. Petals broadly obcor-"itlj a “litte. It varies—1st. with a lesser fruit called the Sultana Almond; 2ndly,«. n^^ry yi'iall fruit termed the Pistachio Almond.

® tr co 0 „ Slc °id es - Peach Almond. — Leaves like those of the peach. Fruit oval, obtuse.

fruit*. SUccu ^ ent - Putamen yellowish-black. Seeds sweet.—On the same branchar i<l ac I s sometimes ovate, obtuse, and somewhat fleshy ; and dry, ovate-compressed,ominate.

*>e.

Of t J 1 E e SCRlPT ION.

i

Barbary and Syria . Cultivated in the southern parts of

■Almonds in the shell {Amygdala cum putamine) consist*11) See< ^’ or kernel {Amygdala), enclosed in the endocarp {putamen or’ which may be hard or soft. The seed is of an oval shape, com-

I'm. 203.

pressed, rounded at one end, and somewhat pointedat the other. The outer covering of the seed {epi-dermis seminalis , Bichoff) is glanduliferous, bitter,of a reddish-brown colour, and veined by theramifications of the raphe. At the pointed extre-mity of the seed is a small perforation {foramen),and on one side of this, at the edge, is the ruggedline {hilum) w T hich constitutes, botanically, the baseof the seed. The seed is connected, at the hilum,0 f an a i mon j with the shell by the umbilical cord. The largeor round end of the almond is curiously enoughtermed its apex. That part of the internal seed-coat {endopleura, Decandolle) which correspondss Uu ° r roun d e d end of the almond,is dark-coloured, indicatingion of tb« By soaking almonds in warm water, the

are easily removed. Blanched almonds

?' hoe of the cotyledons

• Radicle and plumule.

thefrlu

the situation of the c halazu-He ed-coats (pellicV

ie or

skin)