frequently 5 '-6' or occasionally 10'-12' in diameter, dividing usually several feet above the
ground into thick spreading branches forming a broad round-topped head, and stout rigid
branchlets marked by minute pale lenticels, glabrous or slightly puberulous during their
first summer, rather dark red-brown, and usually unarmed or on vigorous trees armed with
stout spinescent lateral chestnut-colored branchlets; or often a shrub, with many stems
forming thicket-like clumps. Winter-buds minute, obtuse, with chestnut-brown scales
slightly cilia te on the margins, those of the inner ranks becoming oblong-lanceolate, acute,
glandular-serrate, sometimes $' in length. Bark thin, dark brown, separating into large
thin persistent plates, and displaying the light brown inner layers.

Distribution. Low banks of streams in rich moist soil; southwestern Illinois to Scott
County, Iowa, and to eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma, and to central Ken-




tucky and northwestern Tennessee; most abundant and of its largest size in Missouri. The
handsomest of American Plum-trees, and hardy as far north as eastern Massachusetts.
Several selected forms are grown and valued by pomologists. Passing into var. Mineri
Bailey, with darker green duller leaves, and sometimes more scaly bark. Southwestern
Illinois to central Missouri; and into var. pubens Sarg. differing from the type in its
pubescent leaves, petioles and young branchlets. In the neighborhood of Webb City,
Jasper County, Missouri.

Often cultivated by pomologists in many selected forms.

10. Prunus Munsoniana Wight & Hedrick

Leaves elliptic to lanceolate, acute or acuminate at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate
or rounded at base and finely glandular-serrate, when they unfold densely villose-pubescent
above and glabrous below, and at maturity thin, light green and lustrous on the upper sur-
face, pale on the lower surface, 2'-4' long and f-lj' wide, with a slender midrib often red
and usually pubescent or sparingly villose on the lower side, and slender primary veins
often furnished with small axillary clusters of white hairs; petioles slender, usually biglan-
dular toward the apex, the groove on the upper side covered with white pubescence, often
bright red, f' in length; stipules linear, glandular-serrate. Flowers appearing in Texas be-
fore the leaves at the end of March and as late as May after the appearance of the leaves at



ROSACES



569




the northern limits of its range, \'-% ' in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels -'-!' long, in
2-4-flowered umbellike clusters; calyx-tube broad-obconic, glabrous, obscurely nerved,
the lobes ovate, acute or acuminate, minutely glandular-serrate, glabrous or rarely slightly
pubescent on the outer surface, pubescent on the inner surface below the middle; petals
about \' long, obovate to oblong-obovate, entire or sparingly erose, white, about f ' long,
abruptly contracted into a short claw. Fruit ripening in July and August, subglobose to
short-oblong, f ' long, bright red with a slight bloom, marked by pale dots and occasionally
by yellow blotches, rarely yellow, with a thin skin and light or dark yellow juicy aromatic
fibrous flesh often of good quality; stone oval, compressed, pointed at apex, truncate or
obliquely truncate at base, thick-margined and grooved on the ventral suture, grooved on
the dorsal suture, irregularly roughened on the surface, about |' long.

A tree spreading into dense thickets, the oldest central stem sometimes 20 high and 5' or
6' in diameter, diminishing in height and size to the margin of the thicket, with erect, rarely
slightly spinescent branches, and slender glabrous red-brown lustrous branchlets marked
by numerous pale lenticels. Winter-buds obtuse, chestnut brown, glabrous, rarely more
than ' long. Bark thin, usually smooth and reddish or chestnut-brown on young stems,
becoming gray or grayish brown and separating into thin platelike scales on older trunks.

Distribution. Usually in rich soil; southern Illinois (Alexander, Gallatin, Pope, Johnson
and Richland Counties); southwestern Kentucky; central Tennessee; northern Mississippi;
central Missouri to southeastern Kansas, and through Arkansas to eastern Oklahoma,
western Louisiana (Natchitoches and Lincoln Parishes), and northern Texas west to Clay
and Lampasas Counties); now occasionally naturalized from cultivated trees in eastern
Texas, and eastward to Georgia, eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio, and in northern Mis-
souri. Hardy in eastern Massachusetts and western New York.

Cultivated in orchards, a tree sometimes 20-30 tall with a trunk 6'-8' in diameter, and
rather small wide-spreading branches forming a handsome round-topped head. Selected
forms of the wild plants are valued by pomologists who have produced several hybrids by
crossing Primus Munsaniana with other American and with ,Old World species. The
" Wild Goose Plum," one of the best known forms of Prunus Munsoniana, has flowered and
produced fruit for many years in the Arnold Arboretum.

11. Prunus angustifolia Marsh. Chickasaw Plum .

Leaves lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, pointed at the ends, apiculate at apex, and
sharply serrate with minute glandular teeth, glabrous or at first sometimes furnished with
axillary tufts of long pale hairs, bright green and lustrous on the upper, paler and rather



570



TREES OF NORTH AMERICA



dull on the lower surface, l'-2' long and Y~ wide; petioles slender, glabrous or puberu-
lous, biglandular near the apex with 2 conspicuous red glands, bright red, \'-\' in length;
stipules linear or lobed, glandular-serrate, \' long. Flowers appearing before the leaves
from the beginning of March at the south to the middle of April at the north, \' in diameter,
on slender glabrous pedicels \'-\' long, in 2-4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube campanuiate,
glabrous, the lobes oblong, obtuse, entire ciliate on the margins with slender hairs, pale-
pubescent on the inner surface, reflexed at maturity; petals obovate, rounded at apex, con-
tracted at base into a short broad claw, white or creamy white. Fruit ripening between the
end of May and the end of July, globose or subglobose, about \' in diameter, bright red
or yellow, rather lustrous, nearly destitute of bloom, with a thin skin, and juicy subacid flesh ;
stone turgid, rugose, compressed at the ends, nearly \' long, more or less thick-margined on
the ventral suture and grooved on the dorsal suture.

A tree, 15-25 high, with a trunk rarely exceeding 8' in diameter, slender spreading
branches, and bright red and lustrous branchlets glabrous or covered at first with short
caducous hairs, becoming in their second year dull, darker and often brown, marked with




Fig. 523



occasional horizontal orange-colored lenticels, and frequently armed with long thin spines-
cent lateral branchlets; spreading into thickets. Winter-buds acuminate, ^' long, with
chestnut-brown scales. Bark about f ' thick, dark reddish brown and slightly furrowed,
the surface broken into long thick appressed scales. Wood heavy, although rather soft,
not strong, light brownish red with lighter colored sapwood. The fruit is often sold in the
markets of the middle and southern states.

Distribution. Widely naturalized especially in the south Atlantic and Gulf states from
southern Delaware and Kentucky to central Florida and eastern Texas, occupying the
margins of fields and other waste places near human habitations usually in rich soil ; proba-
bly native in central Texas and Oklahoma. Passing into var. varians Wight & Hedrick,
differing from the type in its usually larger leaves occasionally up to %\' in length and to 1'
in width, in the longer pedicels of the flowers and in the ovoid to ellipsoid often pointed
stone of the red or yellow later ripening fruit. A tree usually spreading into thickets,
occasionally 12 high with a trunk 4' or 5' in diameter, small branches and slender often
spinescent chestnut-brown branchlets. Usually in richer soil than the type, southwestern
Kansas (Arkansas City, Desha County), through eastern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas
to northern and central Texas (Cherokee County) ; now occasionally naturalized in the
eastern Gulf States and possibly indigenous in Dallas County, Alabama, and Orange
County, Florida.

A number of selected forms of this variety, including most of those formerly referred to
Prunus angustifolia, are grown and valued in southern orchards but are not hardy in the
north.



ROSACILE 571

12. Primus pennsylvanica L. Wild Red Cherry. Bird Cherry.

Leaves oblong-lanceolate, sometimes slightly falcate, acuminate or rarely acute, and
finely and sharply serrate with incurved teeth often tipped with minute glands, when they
unfold bronze-green, pilose below and slightly viscid, soon becoming green and glabrous,
and at maturity bright and lustrous on the upper surface, rather paler on the lower surface,
3'-4|' long and f'-lj' wide; turning bright clear yellow some time before falling in the
autumn; petioles slender, glabrous or slightly pilose, |'-1' in length, and often glandular
above the middle; stipules acuminate, glandular-serrate, early deciduous. Flowers ap-
pearing in early May when the leaves are about half grown, or at the extreme north and at
high altitudes as late as the 1st of July, \' in diameter, on slender pedicels nearly 1' long, in




4 or 5-flowered umbels or corymbs; calyx-tube broad-obconic, glabrous, marked in the
mouth of the throat by a conspicuous light orange-colored band, the lobes obtuse, red at
apex, and reflexed after the flowers open; petals \' long, nearly orbicular, contracted at
base into a short claw, creamy white. Fruit ripening from the 1st of July to the 1st of Sep-
tember, globose, \' in diameter, with a thick light red skin, and thin sour flesh; stone oblong,
thin-walled, slightly compressed, pointed at apex, rounded at base, about T y long, and
ridged on the ventral suture.

A tree, with bitter aromatic bark and leaves, 30-40 high, with a trunk often 18'-20' in
diameter, regular slender horizontal branches forming a narrow usually more or less
rounded head, and slender branchlets light red and sometimes slightly puberulous when
they first appear, soon glabrous, bright red, lustrous and covered with pale raised lenticels
in their first winter, and developing in their second year short thick spur-like lateral branch-
lets and then covered with dull red bark marked by bright orange-colored lenticels, the
outer coat easily separable from the brilliant green inner bark; at the extreme north often a
low shrub. Winter-buds ovoid to ellipsoid, acute, about -fa' long, with bright red-brown
acute scales, ciliate on the margins. Bark of young stems and of the branches smooth and
thin, bright reddish brown, becoming on old trunks \'-\' thick, and separating horizontally
into broad persistent papery dark red-brown plates marked by irregular horizontal bands
of orange-colored lenticels and broken into minute persistent scales. Wood light, soft,
close-grained, light brown, with thin yellow sapwood. The fruit is often used domestically
and in the preparation of cough mixtures.

Distribution. Newfoundland to the shores of Hudson's Bay, and westward in British
America to the eastern slopes of the coast range of British Columbia in the valley of the
Frazer River, and southward through New England, New York, northern Pennsylvania,
central Michigan, northern Illinois, central Iowa, and on the Appalachian Mountains,



572



TREES OF NORTH AMERICA



North Carolina and Tennessee; common in all the forest regions of the extreme northern
states, growing in moist rather rich soil; often occupying to the exclusion of other trees
large areas cleared by fire of their original forest-covering; common and attaining its largest
size on the western slopes of the Big Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Passing into var.
saximontana Rehd. differing from the type in its shorter and broader, more coarsely serrate
leaves, usually fewer flowered sessile umbels, larger fruit, and smaller size. The Rocky
Mountain form; common from Manitoba, the Flathead Lake region, Montana, and north-
ern Wyoming, southward through Colorado.

13. Prunus emarginata Walp. Wild Cherry.

Leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, rounded and usually obtuse or sometimes acute
at apex, cuneate and furnished at base with 1 or 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 large dark
glands, and serrate with minute subulate glandular teeth, when they unfold puberulous or
pubescent on the lower surface and slightly viscid, and at maturity glabrous or pubescent
below (var. mollis S. Wats.), l'-3' long, f'-lf wide, dark green above and paler below;
petioles usually pubescent, |'-j' in length; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-ser-
rate, deciduous. Flowers appearing when the leaves are about half grown, at the end of
April at the level of the ocean or as late as the end of June at high altitudes, %'%' in diame-
ter, on slender pedicels from the axils of foliaceous glabrous glandular-serrate bracts, in




6-12-flowered glabrous or pubescent corymbs l'-l' long; calyx-tube obconic, glabrous
or puberulous, bright orange-colored in the throat, the lobes short, rounded, emarginate or
slightly cleft at apex, sometimes slightly glandular on the margins, reflexed after the
flowers open; petals obovate, rounded or emarginate at apex, contracted below into a short
claw, white faintly tinged w r ith green. Fruit ripening from June to August, on slender
pedicels, in long-stalked corymbs often 2' long, globose, \'-\' in diameter, more or less
translucent, with a thick skin bright red at first when fully grown, becoming darker and al-
most black, and thin bitter astringent flesh; stone ovoid, turgid about ' long, pointed and
compressed at the ends, with thick brittle slightly pitted walls, ridged and prominently
grooved on the ventral suture and rounded and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, occasionally 30-40 high, with exceedingly bitter bark and leaves, a trunk
12'-14' in diameter, slender rather upright branches forming a symmetric oblong head, and
slender flexible branchlets coated at first with pale pubescence, dark red-brown during
their first winter, bright red, conspicuously marked by large pale lenticels in their second
season, and furnished with short lateral branchlets; frequently a shrub especially at high
altitudes, with spreading stems 3-10 tall forming dense thickets. Winter-buds acute, \'
long, with chestnut-brown scales often slightly scarious on the margins, those of the inner



ROSACE^E 573

ranks becoming acuminate, glandular-serrate above the middle, with bright red tips, scari-
ous, and \' long. Bark about \' thick, with a generally smooth dark brown surface marked
by horizontal light gray interrupted bands and by rows of oblong orange-colored lenticels.
Wood close-grained, soft and brittle, brown streaked with green, with paler sapwood of 8-10
layers of annual growth.

Distribution Usually near the banks of streams in low rich soil, or less commonly on
dry hillsides; valley of the upper Jocko River, Montana, on the mountain ranges of Idaho
and Washington and of southern British Columbia to Vancouver Island, and southward on
the coast and interior ranges to the neighborhood of the bay of San Francisco, on the west-
ern slopes of the Sierra Nevada up to altitudes of 5000-6000 above the sea to the head of
Kern River, on the Santa Lucia, San Rafael, and San Bernardino Mountains, California, on
the Washoe Mountains, Nevada, and the mountains of northern Arizona ; of its largest size
on Vancouver Island, in western Oregon and Washington, and on the Santa Lucia Moun-
tains; on the coast ranges of middle California and on the Sierra Nevada commonly a shrub
5-8 high.

14. Primus virginiana L. Choke Cherry.

Leaves oval, oblong or obovate, abruptly short-pointed at apex, cuneate, rounded cr
rarely slightly cordate at base, and sharply often doubly serrate with spreading subulate
teeth, glabrous when they unfold or furnished below with axillary tufts of pale hairs, and at
maturity dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, light green or pale on the lower sur-




face, 2'-4' long and l'-2' wide; turning bright clear yellow in the autumn before falling; peti-
oles slender, biglandular near apex, or on vigorous shoots sometimes many-glandular, \'-V
in length; stipules lanceolate, about \' long, early deciduous. Flowers opening from April
to the end of June, \'-\' in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels from the axils of scarious
caducous bracts, in erect or nodding racemes 3 '-6' in length; calyx-tube cup-shaped, globose,
the lobes short, obtuse, laciniate and more or less glandular on the margins; petals orbicu-
lar, contracted into a short claw, white; filaments and pistil glabrous, the short thick style
abruptly enlarged into a broad orbicular stigma. Fruit globose or occasionally slightly
elongated, \'-%' in diameter, lustrous, bright red at first when fully grown, becoming at
maturity scarlet, dark vinous red or nearly black, or rarely bright canary color (var. leu-
cocarpa S. Wats.), with a thick lustrous skin, and dark juicy flesh, austere and astringent,
becoming at maturity less astringent and sometimes edible; stone oblong-ovoid broadly
ridged on one suture and acute on the other.

A tree occasionally 20-25 high, with a straight trunk sometimes G'-8' in diameter,
small erector horizontal branches, and slender glabrous red-brown or orange-brown lustrous.



574



TREES OF NORTH AMERICA



branchlets marked by pale lenticels, becoming dark red-brown in their second year; more
often a large or small shrub, at the north frequently not more than 2-3 tall. Winter-buds
acute or obtuse, with pale chestnut brown scales rounded at apex and more or less scarious
on the margins, those of the inner rank becoming lanceolate or ligulate, sharply and often
glandular-serrate, and \'-\' in length. Bark strongly and disagreeably scented, about '
thick, slightly and irregularly fissured, separating on the surface into small persistent dark
red-brown scales, and often marked by pale irregular excrescences. Wood heavy, hard,
close-grained, not strong, light brown, with thick lighter-colored sap wood of 15-20 layers of
annual growth.

Distribution. Margins of the forest, generally in rich rather moist soil, and along high-
ways and fence-rows; Newfoundland, through Labrador to the shores of Hudson's Bay,
and southward to the valley of the Potomac River and northern Kentucky; in Buncombe
and Iredell Counties, North Carolina, and Talladega County, Alabama, and westward to
Saskatchewan, eastern North and South Dakota and Nebraska, northeastern Missouri and
Kansas; more often a tree southward and in cultivation. Passing into the var. melanocarpa
Sarg. with rather thicker rarely lanceolate leaves, and usually darker often less astringent
rarely yellow (/. xanthocarpa Sarg.) fruit.

Distribution. Low valleys and the slopes of mountain ranges; Manitoba, western
North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, westward to northern British
Columbia, and southward in the Rocky Mountain region through Wyoming, Montana and
Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Nevada to southern New Mexico and Arizona, and through
Washington, Oregon and California to San Diego County; in the rich soil of valleys a tree
sometimes 30 tall; on dry mountain slopes a shrub 2 or 3 high. More distinct is

Prunus virginiana var. demissa Sarg.
Cerasus demissa Nutt.

Differing in its often cordate leaves covered below with pale pubescence.
Distribution. Prairies and valleys of western Washington and Oregon, southward to




Fig. 527



Siskiyou, Napa, Santa Cruz and Kern Counties, California, in northern Nebraska, central
Iowa, western Texas (Gamble's Ranch, Armstrong County, with pubescent leaves cuneate
at base), and in New Mexico.



ROSACE^E



57,5



Passing into var. deinwsa f. pachyrrachis Sarg. (l j adnx ralida Woot. & Stanl.) differing
in the cuneate or rounded base of the leaves, villose pubescent on the midrib and veins be-
low, in the stouter pubescent radhis and pedicels, and in the pubescent branchlets usually
becoming glabrous at the end of their second season.

Distribution. Common on the mountains of southwestern New Mexico (Sierra County)
and rarely in southern California.

15. Prunus serotina Ehrh. Wild Black Cherry. Rum Cherry.
Prunus eximia Small.

Leaves oval, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, gradually or sometimes abruptly acuminate at
apex, cuneate at base, finely serrate with appressed incurved callous teeth, and furnished
at the very base with 1 or more dark red conspicuous glands, when they unfold slightly




Fig. 528



hairy below 7 on the midrib, and often bronze-green, and at maturity glabrous, thick and
firm, subcoriaceous, dark green and very lustrous above, paler below-, 2'-6' long and I'-l^'
wide, with a thin conspicuous midrib rarely furnished toward the base w ith a fringe of rusty
tomentum and slender veins; in the autumn turning clear bright yellow before falling; peti-
oles slender, f'-f in length; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-serrate, %'-%' in
length, early deciduous. Flowers appearing when the leaves are about half grown, from
the end of March in Texas to the first week of June in the valley of the St. Lawrence River.
in diameter, on slender glabrous or puberulous pedicels from the axils of minute scarious
caducous bracts, in erect or ultimately spreading narrow many-flowered racemes 4'-6'
long; calyx-tube saucer-shaped, glabrous or puberulous, the lobes short, ovate-oblong,
acute, slightly laciniate on the margins, reflexed after the flowers open, persistent on the
ripe fruit; petals broad-obovate, pure white. Fruit ripening from June to October, in
drooping racemes, depressed-globose, slightly lobed, %'-%' in diameter, dark red when fully
grown, almost black when ripe, w r ith a thin skin, and dark purple juicy flesh of a pleasant
vinous flavor; stone oblong-obovoid thin-walled, about \ r long, acute at apex, gradually
narrowed at base, broadly ridged on the ventral suture and acute on the dorsal suture.

A tree, with bitter aromatic bark and leaves, sometimes 100 high, with a trunk 4-5 c in
diameter, small horizontal branches forming a narrow oblong head, and slender rather rigid
glabrous branchlets at first pale green or bronze color, soon becoming bright red or dark
brown tinged with red, red-brown or gray-brown and marked by minute pale lenticels dur-
ing their first winter, and bright red the following year; usually much smaller and occasion-



576



TREES OF NORTH AMERICA



ally toward the northern limits of its range shrub-like in habit. Winter-buds obtuse, or on
sterile shoots acute, with bright chestnut-brown broad-ovate scales keeled on the back
and apiculate at apex, those of the inner ranks becoming scarious at maturity, acuminate,
and f '-f ' long. Bark f f ' thick, broken by reticulated fissures into small irregular plates
scaly on the surface, and dark red-brown, or near the Gulf-coast light gray or nearly white.
Wood light, strong, rather hard, close straight-grained, with a satiny surface, light brown or
red, with thin yellow r sap wood of 10-12 layers of annual growth; largely used in cabinet-
making and the interior finish of houses. The bark, especially that of the branches and
roots, yields hydrocyanic acid used in medicine as a tonic and sedative. The ripe fruit is
used to flavor alcoholic liquors.

Distribution. Nova Scotia westward through the Canadian provinces to Lake Superior,
and southward through the eastern states to central (Lake County) Florida, and westward
to eastern South Dakota, southeastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, central Oklahoma and
the valley of the east fork of the Frio River, Texas; usually in rich moist soil; once very
abundant in all the Appalachian region, reaching its greatest size on the slopes of the high
Alleghany Mountains from West Virginia to Georgia, and in Alabama; sometimes on low
sandy soil, and often in New England on rocky cliffs within reach of the spray of the ocean;
not common in the coast region of the southern states.

A form from the summits of White Top Mountain, Virginia, with larger and rather
thicker leaves pale below and rather larger fruit, has been described as var. montana
Britt.

1C. Prunus alabamensis Mohr. Wild Cherry.

Leaves oval, broad-ovate, or occasionally obovate, acute, short-pointed or rounded at
apex, cuneate, rounded or rarely slightly obcordate at base, and finely serrate with incurved
teeth tipped with minute or sometimes near the base of the blade with larger dark glands,
when they unfold coated below and on the upper side of the midrib with fine pubescence,