Part 75

Leaves oblong-obovate to oblong-oval or rarely to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate and contracted at apex into a long slender point, cuneate or more or less rounded at the narrow base, and finely serrate with incurved lanceolate glandular teeth, when they unfold pilose with slender white hairs, and at maturity glabrous above, pilose below in the axils of the primary veins and along the midrib with tawny hairs, thin but firm, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface paler on the lower surface, 4′—6′ long and 1′—1½′ wide, with a broad conspicuous orange-colored midrib, primary veins connected near the margins of the leaf, and prominent reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, orange-colored, 1′—1½′ in length and furnished above the middle with numerous scattered dark glands; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-serrate, early deciduous. Flowers appearing in April or early in May when the leaves are about one-third grown, ⅔′—1′ in diameter, on slender puberulous pedicels ½′ long, in 2—4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, the lobes about as long as the tube, oblong-ovate, acute or rounded at apex, glandular-serrate, glabrous or puberulous on the outer surface, pubescent or tomentose on the inner surface chiefly toward the base, reflexed after the unfolding of the narrow oval or oblong-orbicular petals rounded and occasionally emarginate at apex, contracted below into a long narrow claw, entire, erose, or occasionally serrate, and white often marked with orange toward the base. Fruit ripening in September and October, on stout stems, globose or rarely ellipsoid, ¾′—1′ in diameter, with thick deep red or sometimes yellow lustrous skin, and hard austere thin flesh; stone turgid, ⅔′—¾′ long, compressed at the ends, abruptly short-pointed or rounded at apex, rounded or truncate at base, conspicuously ridge-margined on the ventral suture and broadly and deeply grooved on the dorsal suture, thick-walled, usually conspicuously or rarely obscurely rugose and pitted.

A tree 20°—30° high, without suckers from the roots, with a slender often inclining trunk, 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 ciliate on the margins, those of the inner ranks becoming oblong-lanceolate, acute, glandular-serrate, sometimes ½′ 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 Kentucky 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 surface, pale on the lower surface, 2½′—4′ long and ¾′—1¼′ 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 biglandular toward the apex, the groove on the upper side covered with white pubescence, often bright red, ¾′ in length; stipules linear, glandular-serrate. Flowers appearing in Texas before the leaves at the end of March and as late as May after the appearance of the leaves at the northern limits of its range, ½′—⅗′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels ⅖′—1′ long, in 2—4-flowered umbel-like 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 ¼′ long, obovate to oblong-obovate, entire or sparingly erose, white, about ¼′ long, abruptly contracted into a short claw. Fruit ripening in July and August, subglobose to short-oblong, ¾′ 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 ½′ 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 ⅛′ long. Bark thin, usually smooth and reddish or chestnut-brown on young stems, becoming gray or grayish brown and separating into thin plate-like 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 Missouri. 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 _Prunus Munsoniana_ 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 dull on the lower surface, 1′—2′ long and ⅓′—⅔′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous or puberulous, biglandular near the apex with 2 conspicuous red glands, bright red, ¼′—½′ in length; stipules linear or lobed, glandular-serrate, ½′ long. Flowers appearing before the leaves from the beginning of March at the south to the middle of April at the north, ⅓′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels ¼′—½′ long, in 2—4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube campanulate, 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, contracted 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 ½′ 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 ½′ 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 occasional horizontal orange-colored lenticels, and frequently armed with long thin spinescent lateral branchlets; spreading into thickets. Winter-buds acuminate, 1/16′ long, with chestnut-brown scales. Bark about ⅛′ 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; probably native in central Texas and Oklahoma. Passing into var. _varians_ Wight & Hedrick, differing from the type in its usually larger leaves occasionally up to 2½′ 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.

12. Prunus 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′—4½′ long and ¾′—1¼′ wide; turning bright clear yellow some time before falling in the autumn; petioles slender, glabrous or slightly pilose, ½′—1′ in length, and often glandular above the middle; stipules acuminate, glandular-serrate, early deciduous. Flowers appearing 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, ½′ 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 ¼′ long, nearly orbicular, contracted at base into a short claw, creamy white. Fruit ripening from the 1st of July to the 1st of September, globose, ¼′ 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 3/16′ 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 branchlets 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 1/12′ 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 ⅓′—½′ 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, 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 northern 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.), 1′—3′ long, ⅓′—1½′ wide, dark green above and paler below; petioles usually pubescent, ⅛′—¼′ in length; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-serrate, 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, ⅓′—½′ in diameter, on slender pedicels from the axils of foliaceous glabrous glandular-serrate bracts, in 6—12-flowered glabrous or pubescent corymbs 1′—1½′ 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 with green. Fruit ripening from June to August, on slender pedicels, in long-stalked corymbs often 2′ long, globose, ¼′—½′ in diameter, more or less translucent, with a thick skin bright red at first when fully grown, becoming darker and almost black, and thin bitter astringent flesh; stone ovoid, turgid about ⅛′ 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, ⅛′ long, with chestnut-brown scales often slightly scarious on the margins, those of the inner ranks becoming acuminate, glandular-serrate above the middle, with bright red tips, scarious, and ½′ long. Bark about ¼′ 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 western 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 Mountains; on the coast ranges of middle California and on the Sierra Nevada commonly a shrub 5°—8° high.

14. Prunus virginiana L. Choke Cherry.

Leaves oval, oblong or obovate, abruptly short-pointed at apex, cuneate, rounded or 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 surface, 2′—4′ long and 1′—2′ wide; turning bright clear yellow in the autumn before falling; petioles slender, biglandular near apex, or on vigorous shoots sometimes many-glandular, ½′—1′ in length; stipules lanceolate, about ½′ long, early deciduous. Flowers opening from April to the end of June, ⅓′—½′ 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 orbicular, 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, ¼′—⅓′ 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. _leucocarpa_ 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 6′—8′ in diameter, small erect or horizontal branches, and slender glabrous red-brown or orange-brown lustrous 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 ½′—1′ in length. Bark strongly and disagreeably scented, about ⅛′ 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 sapwood of 15—20 layers of annual growth.

Distribution. Margins of the forest, generally in rich rather moist soil, and along highways 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 (f. _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 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.

Passing into var. _demissa_ f. _pachyrrachis_ Sarg. (_Padus valida_ Woot. & Stanl.) differing in the cuneate or rounded base of the leaves, villose pubescent on the midrib and veins below, in the stouter pubescent rachis 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.