The several importations of seeds recorded by the United States Department of Agriculture seem all to have been made from the province of Chili in China and from the cities of Pekin and Tientsin in the neighborhood of which the tree is commonly found wild. According to Bretschneider,[177] the species was first discovered by Bunge near Peking in 1831 who took it to be an almond. The same authority says that Father David's seeds came from wild trees growing in the mountains near Jehol, and that the species is much cultivated in the gardens of Peking, there being two varieties, one with rose-colored and the other with white flowers. At the time of its introduction into Europe, it was considered, by some, the wild form of the cultivated peach. The fruit of David's peach is not edible and peach-growers would have but passing interest in the species as a very attractive ornamental were it not for the fact that it is a common and most valuable stock, used for centuries in China for several of the stone-fruits. It is, then, with a view to its fitness as a stock that the Davidiana peach must be discussed. Its characters in several respects indicate that it may make an invaluable stock in America as it has long been in China. For this purpose it seems possible to use it equally well for several stone-fruits. As it grows on the Station grounds the most experienced fruit-grower cannot guess whether _Prunus davidiana_ is a peach, nectarine, almond, apricot or plum. As we shall show later, too, it hybridizes with several other species of its genus. Its similarities to all of these stone-fruits give a clue to its value as a stock--it may be used for all. It is the commonest stock for all of these fruits in parts of China and is sometimes used for the cherry as well. It is reported by the United States Department of Agriculture[178] to have been tried in commercial plantings of peaches, plums, apricots and almonds in California and Texas and for all is "unusually promising." [Illustration: _PRUNUS DAVIDIANA_]