SOME trees suffer by their associations.
Regarding it habitually as a fruit-tree, we are perhaps liable, for instance, to overlook the many other points of interest and the manifold beauty of the Plum. The Drupacea, including the Peaches, Nectarines, Almonds, Cherries, and Cherry-laurels, in addition to the Plums, are plants which are obviously related by the character of their fruits, and less obviously by other structural peculiarities. They are all woody plants, though varying through a wide range of sizes. The flowers are variously grouped, but are restricted in range of color, being invariably white, pink, or red. The ovary itself consists of a single carpel, terminated above in a well-developed style and stigma and enclosing two ovules, one of which only as a rule reaches maturity as a seed.