History of Rare Plants Observed in Pannonia

Cherry-laurel original: "Cerasus laurea".

mentions, he discusses cherries grafted onto laurel. He says that it has been less than five years since those called laurel cherries appeared, which have a not unpleasant bitterness and are grafted onto laurel. However, I can hardly persuade myself that he means this tree which we are presenting here.

But since we lack a more suitable name, and Pierre Belon seems to have used it with some evidence, we will call it the Laurocerafus The Cherry-laurel, Prunus laurocerasus. Clusius is adopting Belon's nomenclature despite his doubts. along with him, until we find a more appropriate name from the records of the ancient writers. If, however, the name Trebizond cherry. Trebizond Date, which it acquired at Constantinople, or Trebizond Cherry, as Belon also uses in French, pleases anyone more, they may use it as far as I am concerned.

ON THE HORSE CHESTNUT.

CHAPTER II.

The famous Pietro Andrea Mattioli described the Horse Chestnut in his commentaries on the first book of Dioscorides. However, it has not yet been seen by our people, or certainly only very rarely. Since it grew excellently for me alongside the plant mentioned above, I decided to add its history immediately after that one.

History of the Horse Chestnut.

This tree is very enduring of the cold. It seems to delight in shade and water, just like the Plane tree. In the autumn, when it has lost its leaves, it immediately bears a catkin-like growth at the ends of its small branches. These are swollen, as if the tree were pregnant. They are covered with a thick and sticky fluid. Gnats and similar insects stick to this fluid. The tree remains this way through the whole winter until the start of spring. Then, very early, the buds unfold into leaves. These leaves are palmate shaped like the palm of a hand with fingers spreading out. They are usually seven in number and grow from a single leaf-stalk. They are delicate at the beginning and have a light green color. Later they become veined, wrinkled, and long. They gradually grow wider from the bottom part. They are notched along the edges and have a pointed tip. They are green on the top and whitish underneath. They have a slightly bitter taste. The leaf-stalks

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