9. CERCOCARPUS H. B. K. Mountain Mahogany.
Trees or shrubs, with scaly bark, rigid terete branches, short lateral spur-like branchlets conspicuously roughened for many years by the crowded narrow horizontal scars of fallen leaves, minute buds, the scales of the inner rows accrescent on the growing shoots and often colored. Leaves alternate, simple, entire or serrate, coriaceous, straight-veined, short-petiolate, persistent; stipules minute, adnate to the base of the petiole, deciduous. Flowers axillary on the short lateral branchlets, sessile or short-pedicellate, solitary or fascicled, the pedicels sometimes lengthening before the fruit ripens; calyx-tube long, cylindric, abruptly expanded at apex into a cup-shaped, 5-lobed deciduous limb, the lobes imbricated in the bud; disk thin, slightly glandular, adnate to the tube of the calyx; petals 0; stamens 15—30, in 2 or 3 rows; filaments incurved in the bud, free, short, terete; anthers oblong, pubescent or tomentose, distinct and united by a broad connective; ovary composed of a single carpel inserted in the bottom and included in the tube of the calyx, acute, terete, smooth, striate or sulcate, sericeous, rarely bicarpellate; style terminal, filiform, villose or glabrate, crowned with a minute obtuse stigma; ovule solitary, subbasilar, ascending; raphe dorsal; micropyle inferior. Fruit a linear-oblong coriaceous slightly ridged angled or sulcate akene, included in the persistent tube of the spindle-shaped calyx more or less deeply cleft at the apex, and tipped with the elongated persistent style clothed with long white hairs. Seed solitary, linear, acute, erect; hilum conspicuous lateral above the oblique base; testa membranaceous; embryo filling the cavity of the seed; cotyledons ovate-oblong, elongated, fleshy; radicle inferior.
Cercocarpus is confined to the dry interior and mountainous regions of North America. Twenty-one species, often of doubtful value, have been distinguished; seventeen are credited to the territory of the United States and the others to Mexico. The heavy hard brittle wood of all the species makes valuable fuel and is occasionally used in the manufacture of small articles for domestic and industrial use.
The generic name, from κέρκος and καρπός, refers to the peculiar long-tailed fruit.
CONSPECTUS OF THE ARBORESCENT SPECIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
Flowers usually in many-flowered clusters. Leaves coarsely serrate above the middle. Leaves oval to semiorbicular or obovate, hoary-tomentose below, sinuate-dentate; flowers short-pedicellate.1. [C. Traskiæ.] Leaves oval to slightly obovate, green and glabrous below, denticulate with broad apiculate teeth; flowers long-pedicellate.2. [C. alnifolius.] Leaves finely serrate above the middle, obovate to oval, pale and villose below; flowers short-pedicellate.3. [C. betuloides.] Flowers solitary or rarely in 2 or 3-flowered clusters, nearly sessile. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, lance-elliptic or oblanceolate, acute at the ends, entire, pale or rufous below.4. [C. ledifolius.] Leaves oblong-obovate to narrow-elliptic, entire or slightly dentate below the apex, villose-pubescent.5. [C. paucidentatus.]
1. [Cercocarpus Traskiæ] Eastw.
Leaves oval to semiorbicular or obovate, rounded or acute at apex, cuneate, rounded or occasionally somewhat cordate at the narrow base, revolute on the margins, entire below, coarsely sinuate-dentate above the middle with slender teeth tipped with minute dark glands, when they unfold covered above with soft pale hairs and below with thick hoary tomentum, and at maturity coriaceous, dark green, lustrous and villose or nearly glabrous on the upper surface, pale-tomentose on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with prominent primary veins running obliquely to the point of the teeth, and, like the stout midrib, conspicuously impressed on the upper side; petioles stout, hoary-tomentose, about ¼′ in length; stipules acuminate, scarious, covered on the margins with long white hairs, ¼′ long. Flowers appearing early in March, nearly sessile, in 1—5 usually 4 or 5-flowered clusters, hoary-tomentose, ½′—¾′ long; calyx broad, glabrous on the inner surface; anthers tomentose. Fruit: mature calyx, light reddish brown, villose-pubescent, deeply cleft at apex, ½′ long; akene slightly ridged on the back, ⅓′ in length, covered with long lustrous white hairs; style 1½′—2′ in length.
A tree, occasionally 25° high, with a trunk often inclining, usually much contorted, 2′—10′ in diameter and 6°—8° long, stout wide-spreading branches, and stout branchlets, hoary-tomentose when they first appear, marked by numerous small scattered lenticels, bright reddish brown during two or three years, ultimately dark gray-brown and conspicuously roughened by the enlarged ring-like leaf-scars. Bark light gray, sometimes slightly broken by shallow fissures and marked by irregular cream-colored blotches.
Distribution. Steep sides of a deep narrow arroyo on the south coast of Santa Catalina Island, California.
2. [Cercocarpus alnifolius] Rydb.
Cercocarpus parvifolius Sarg., in part, not Nutt.
Leaves occasionally persistent until late in the spring, oval to slightly obovate, rounded or rarely acute at apex, rounded or cuneate at base, and coarsely serrate above the middle with broad apiculate teeth, when they unfold covered above with soft white hairs and pale and villose on the midrib and veins below, and at maturity thick, glabrous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale and yellow-green on the lower surface, 1½′—2½′ long, and 1′—2′ wide, with a stout midrib and 6—7 pairs of slender prominent veins; petioles stout, sparingly villose early in the season, soon glabrous, ⅓′—½′ long; stipules ovate, abruptly long-pointed, covered with silky white hairs. Flowers on slender hairy pedicels ⅓′—½′ long, in 2—15 usually 4 or 5-flowered clusters; calyx-tube villose, about 5/12′ long, the limb villose on the outer surface, ¼′ broad. Fruit: mature calyx-tube many-nerved, deeply cleft at apex, villose-pubescent, dark chestnut-brown, ⅓′—½′ long; akene covered with long silky hairs; style 2′—2½′ in length.
A tree, 12°—20° high, with one or two or three trunks, occasionally 8′ in diameter, small erect and spreading branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender branchlets green and sparingly villose when they first appear, soon becoming glabrous, and in their second year chestnut-brown and lustrous and marked by minute pale lenticels. Bark about ¼′ thick, dark reddish brown, fissured and divided into small closely appressed scales.
Distribution. Hillsides, Descanso Cañon, about a mile and a half up the coast west of Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, and on Santa Cruz Island, California.
3. [Cercocarpus betuloides] Nutt.
Cercocarpus parvifolius var. betuloides Sarg.
Leaves obovate to oval, acute or rounded at apex, cuneate at base, finely serrate above the middle with straight or incurved glandular teeth, dark green on the upper surface, pale and villose-pubescent or tomentose sometimes becoming nearly glabrous on the lower surface, 1′—1¼′ long, and ⅓′—½′ wide, with a thin midrib, and 5—8 pairs of slender primary veins more or less deeply impressed on the upper side of the leaf; petioles densely villose, often becoming glabrous, about ¼′ in length; stipules scarious, acuminate. Flowers nearly sessile, in 1—3-flowered clusters; calyx-tube densely villose, about ⅓′ long, the limb turbinate, villose on the outer surface, glabrous on the inner surface, ¼′ wide. Fruit on slender slightly villose pedicels ¼′—⅓′ in length; mature calyx-tube often slightly gibbous, deeply cleft at apex, light chestnut-brown, sparingly villose, 1/12′ in diameter; akene covered with stiff spreading hairs; style 2′—3′ in length.
A tree, occasionally 25° high, with a single trunk, small ascending and spreading branches forming an open irregular head, and slender red-brown branchlets covered when they first appear with loose pubescence, soon becoming glabrous; more often a tall or low shrub with several stems. Bark smooth, separating into thin deciduous scales.
Distribution. Common and widely distributed over the California coast ranges from Siskiyou County to the Santa Monica and San Bernardino Mountains.
4. [Cercocarpus ledifolius] Nutt.
Leaves narrow-lanceolate, lance-elliptic or oblanceolate, acute at the ends, apiculate, entire with thick revolute margins, coriaceous, reticulate-veined, puberulous while young, and at maturity dark green, lustrous and glabrous on the upper surface and pale or rufous and tomentulose on the lower surface, resinous, ½′—1′ long, and ⅓′—⅔′ wide, with a broad thick midrib deeply grooved on the upper side, and obscure primary veins; persistent until the end of their second summer; petioles broad, about ⅛′ in length; stipules nearly triangular. Flowers solitary, sessile in the axils of the clustered leaves, ⅔′ long; calyx hoary-tomentose. Fruit: mature calyx-tube almost ½′ long, nearly cylindric, rather larger above than below, 10-ribbed, obscurely 10-angled, slightly cleft at apex, hoary-tomentose; akene pointed at the ends, obscurely angled, chestnut-brown, ¼′ long, covered with long pale or tawny hairs; style 2′—3′ in length, generally contracted by 1 or 2 partial corkscrew twists.
A resinous slightly aromatic tree, occasionally 40° high, with a short trunk sometimes 2½° in diameter, stout spreading usually contorted branches forming a round compact head, and red-brown branchlets coated at first with pale pubescence, soon becoming glabrous, frequently covered with a glaucous bloom, silver gray or dark brown in their second year, and for many years marked by the conspicuous elevated leaf-scars. Bark red-brown, divided by deep broad furrows, and broken on the surface into thin persistent plate-like scales, becoming on old trunks 1′ thick. Wood bright clear red or rich dark brown, with thin yellow sapwood of 15—20 layers of annual growth.
Distribution. Dry gravelly arid slopes at altitudes of 5000°—9000°; mountain ranges of the interior region of the United States from eastern Washington and Oregon, to lower Green and Snake River valleys, Wyoming, and through Utah and Nevada to southwestern Colorado; in California to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, the northern slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains, on Mt. Pinos, San Diego County, and on the northern coast mountains (Snow Mountain to Scott Mountain, Jepson).
5. [Cercocarpus paucidentatus] Britt.
Cercocarpus eximius Rydb.
Leaves oblong-obovate to narrow-elliptic, acute or rounded and often apiculate at apex, gradually narrowed from above the middle and acute at base, their margins revolute, often undulate, and entire or dentate toward the apex with few small straight or incurved apiculate teeth, when they unfold coated with hoary tomentum, and at maturity thick, gray-green and covered with soft white hairs or nearly glabrous on the upper surface, pale and tomentulose on the lower surface, ½′—1′ long and ¼′—½′ wide, with a thin prominent midrib and primary veins; petioles stout, tomentose, ultimately pubescent or nearly glabrous, 1/16′—⅕′ in length; stipules linear-lanceolate, tomentose, about half as long as the petioles. Flowers appearing from March to May and often again in August, nearly sessile, solitary, in pairs or rarely in 3-flowered clusters in the axils of the crowded leaves; calyx-tube slender, ⅙′—¼′ long, thickly covered on the outer surface, like the short rounded lobes, with long white hairs. Fruit: mature calyx-tube short-stalked, light red-brown, villose, deeply cleft at apex, about ¼′ long; akene nearly terete, covered with long white hairs; style 1′—1½′ in length.
A tree, 20°—25° high, with a long straight trunk sometimes 6′—8′ in diameter, erect rigid branches forming a narrow open or irregular head, and slender bright red-brown lustrous branchlets marked irregularly by large scattered pale lenticels, covered at first with a thick coat of hoary tomentum, villose or pubescent for two or three years and ultimately ashy gray or gray tinged with red, the spur-like lateral branchlets much roughened by the ring-like scars of fallen leaves. Bark about ⅛′ thick, divided by shallow fissures and broken on the surface into small light red-brown scales.
Distribution. In forests of Pines and Oaks usually at altitudes of about 5000°, on the dry ridges of the mountains of western Texas, and of southern New Mexico and Arizona; in Arizona ranging northward to Oak Creek Cañon, near Flagstaff, Coconino County (P. Lowell); and southward over the mountains of northern Mexico.
10. PRUNUS B. & H. Plum and Cherry.
Trees or shrubs, with bitter astringent properties, slender branchlets, marked by the usually small elevated horizontal leaf-scars with 2 or 3 fibro-vascular bundle-scars, and small scaly buds, their scales imbricated in many rows, those of the inner rows accrescent and often colored. Leaves convolute or conduplicate in the bud, alternate, simple, usually serrate, petiolate, deciduous or persistent; stipules free from the petiole, usually lanceolate and glandular, often minute, early deciduous. Flowers in axillary umbels or corymbs, or in terminal or axillary racemes, appearing from separate buds before, with, or later than the leaves, or on leafy branches; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud; disk thin, adnate to the calyx-tube, glandular, often colored; petals 5, white, deciduous; stamens usually 15—20, inserted with the petals in 3 rows, those of the outer row 10, opposite the petals, those of the next row alternate with them and with those of the inner row, sometimes 30 in 3 rows; filaments filiform, free, incurved in the bud; anthers oval, attached on the back; ovary inserted in the bottom of the calyx-tube, 1-celled; style terminal, dilated at apex into a truncate stigma; ovules 2, suspended; raphe ventral; the micropyle superior. Fruit a 1-seeded drupe; flesh thick and pulpy or dry and coriaceous; stone bony, smooth, rugose, or pitted, compressed, indehiscent. Seed filling the cavity of the nut, suspended; seed-coat thin, membranaceous, pale brown; cotyledons thick and fleshy; radicle superior.
Prunus with about one hundred and twenty species is generally distributed over the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and is abundant in North America, eastern Asia, western and central Asia and central Europe, ranging southward in the New World into tropical America, and to southern Asia in the Old World. Of the twenty-five or thirty species which occur in the United States, twenty-two are arborescent in habit. Several of the species bear fruits which are important articles of human food; many contain in the seeds and leaves hydrocyanic acid, to which is due their peculiar odor, and the fruit of some of the species is used to flavor cordials. The wood of Prunus is close-grained, solid, and durable, and a few of the species are important timber-trees.
Prunus is the classical name of the Plum-tree.
CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES.
Flowers in sessile axillary umbels; fruit usually slightly 2-lobed by a ventral groove, generally more than ½′ in diameter, red to nearly black or yellow, often covered with a glaucous bloom. Prunophora. Plums. Leaves convolute in the bud, their petioles usually without glands. Leaves broad-ovate to orbicular; fruit often 1′ or more in diameter, red or yellow, nearly destitute of bloom.1. [P. subcordata] (G). Leaves ovate-lanceolate to oblong or obovate; fruit ½′ in diameter or less, blue, nearly black, red or yellow, covered with a glaucous bloom.2. [P. umbellata] (C). Leaves conduplicate in the bud. Leaves dull dark green, usually abruptly pointed at apex. Fruit red, rarely yellow, or blue in one form of 2 and 5; leaves oblong to obovate; stone of the fruit compressed. Leaves crennate-serrate, their petioles biglandular; calyx-lobes glandular.3. [P. nigra] (A). Leaves sharply serrate with slender often apiculate teeth. Leaves narrowed and usually cuneate at base. Leaves glabrous or villose on the midrib below; petioles and calyx-lobes usually without glands.4. [P. americana] (A, C, F). Leaves pubescent below; fruit covered with a thick glaucous bloom. Petioles eglandular or with a single gland near the apex; pedicel of the flower glabrous; calyx-tube puberulous; stone of the fruit rounded at base.5. [P. lanata] (A, C). Petioles glandular near the apex with 1—3 prominent glands; pedicel of the flower furnished near the apex, like the glabrous calyx-tube, with long white hairs; stone of the fruit pointed at base.6. [P. tenuifolia] (C). Leaves usually broad and rounded at base, ovate to elliptic or obovate, conspicuously reticulate-venulose; petioles glandular.7. [P. mexicana] (C). Fruit purple, covered with a glaucous bloom; leaves lanceolate to oblong-ovate; petioles and calyx-lobes without glands; stone of the fruit turgid.8. [P. alleghaniensis] (A). Leaves thin and lustrous, acute or acuminate, narrowed at base; petioles usually glandular; fruit red or yellow, the stone turgid. Calyx-lobes glandular. Leaves oblong-obovate to oblong-oval or rarely oblong-lanceolate.9. [P. hortulana] (A). Leaves elliptic to lanceolate.10. [P. Munsoniana] (A, C). Calyx-lobes without glands; leaves lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate.11. [P. angustifolia] (A, C). Flowers in axillary umbels or corymbs; fruit bright red and lustrous, ½′ in diameter or less; leaves conduplicate in the bud. Mahaleb. Bird Cherries. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate or rarely acute at apex.12. [P. pennsylvanica] (A, B, F). Leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, usually obtuse, occasionally acute at apex.13. [P. emarginata] (B, F, G). Flowers in terminal racemes on leafy branches of the year; fruit globose, red or rarely yellow; leaves conduplicate in the bud. Padus. Wild Cherries. Calyx-lobes deciduous from the fruit; leaves oblong-oval or obovate, abruptly pointed, cuneate, rounded or in one form cordate at base.14. [P. virginiana] (A, B, F, G). Calyx-lobes persistent on the fruit. Petioles biglandular near the apex. Leaves oblong to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, or rarely pubescent on the midrib below.15. [P. serotina] (A, C). Leaves oval, broad-ovate or rarely obovate, acute, short-pointed or rounded at apex, villose-pubescent below.16. [P. alabamensis] (C). Leaves obovate, oval or elliptic, short-pointed or rounded at apex, covered below with rufous hairs.17. [P. australis] (C). Petioles without glands; leaves elliptic to ovate or slightly obovate, acute, rounded or abruptly short-pointed at apex, in one form rusty pubescent on the midrib below.18. [P. virens] (E, F, H). Flowers in racemes from the axils of persistent leaves of the previous year; fruit globose or slightly three-lobed; leaves conduplicate in the bud. Laurocerasus. Cherry Laurels. Calyx-lobes rounded, undulate on the margins; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, entire or rarely remotely spinulose-serrate; fruit black, the stone broad-ovoid, acute, cylindric.19. [P. caroliniana] (C). Calyx-lobes acute, minute. Leaves elliptic to oblong-ovate, entire; fruit orange-brown, the stone subglobose.20. [P. myrtifolia] (D). Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute, rounded or emarginate at apex, conspicuously spinulose-dentate; fruit red, becoming purple or nearly black, the stone ovoid, short-pointed.21. [P. ilicifolia] (G). Leaves ovate to lanceolate, acuminate or abruptly short-pointed at apex, usually entire; fruit dark purple or nearly black, the stone ovoid to obovoid, short-pointed.22. [P. Lyonii] (G).
1. [Prunus subcordata] Benth. Wild Plum.
Leaves broad-ovate or orbicular, usually cordate, sometimes truncate or rarely cuneate at base, and sharply often doubly serrate, when they unfold puberulous on the upper surface and pubescent on the lower surface, and at maturity glabrous, or puberulous below, slightly coriaceous, dark green above and pale below, 1′—3′ long and ½′—2′ wide, with a broad midrib and conspicuous veins; northward turning brilliant scarlet and orange or red and yellow in the autumn before falling; petioles slender, usually eglandular, ½′—¾′ in length; stipules lanceolate, acute, glandular-serrate. Flowers appearing before the leaves in March and April, ⅔′ in diameter, on slender glabrous or pubescent pedicels ¼′—½′ long, in 2—4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous or puberulous, the lobes oblong-obovate, rounded at apex, pubescent on the outer surface, more or less clothed with pale hairs on the inner surface, half as long as the obovate white petals rounded above and narrowed below into a short claw. Fruit ripening in August and September, on stout pedicels ½′—⅔′ long; short-oblong, ½′—1¼′ long, with dark red or sometimes bright yellow skin, and more or less subacid flesh; stone flattened or turgid, acute at the ends, ⅓′—1′ long, narrowly wing-margined on the ventral suture, conspicuously grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, 20°—25° high, with a trunk sometimes a foot in diameter, dividing 6°—8° from the ground into stout almost horizontal branches, and glabrous or pubescent bright red more or less spinescent branchlets marked by occasional minute pale lenticels, becoming darker red or purple in their second year, and ultimately dark brown or ashy gray; or often a bush, with stout ascending stems 10°—12° tall, or a low much-branched shrub. Winter-buds acute, ⅛′ long, with chestnut-brown scales, scarious on the margins, those of the inner rows ¼′ long at maturity, oblong, acute, and generally bright red. Bark about ¼′ thick, gray-brown, deeply fissured, and divided into long thick plates broken on the surface into minute persistent scales. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, pale brown, with thin lighter colored sapwood of 5 or 6 layers of annual growth.
Distribution. Dry rocky hills and open woods usually in the neighborhood of streams, sometimes forming thickets of considerable extent; central Oregon to northeastern California in the region east of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains, and common to central California; on the foothills of the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada up to altitudes of 4000° south to the Yosemite Valley, and on the coast ranges to Black Mountain, Santa Clara County; of its largest size on the borders of small streams in southern Oregon and northern California; at high altitudes, and in the arid regions of southeastern Oregon a low shrub producing sparingly small sometimes pubescent fruit (var. oregona Wight); Klamath Indian Reservation, near Klamath Falls and in Sprague River Valley, Klamath County.
2. [Prunus umbellata] Ell. Sloe. Black Sloe.
Leaves obovate-lanceolate to oblong, acute at the ends or sometimes rounded or slightly cordate at base, finely and sharply serrate with remote incurved glandular teeth, and usually furnished with 2 large dark glands at the base, when they unfold bright bronze-green, with red margins, midrib, and petiole, glabrous above and pubescent or glabrous below with the exception of a few hairs along the prominent orange-colored midrib and primary veins, and at maturity thin, dark green above, paler below, 2′—2½′ long and 1′—1½′ wide, petioles stout, glabrous or pubescent, about ⅓′ in length; stipules lanceolate, setaceous, glandular-serrate, ¼′—⅔′ long. Flowers opening in March and April before the appearance of the leaves, ⅔′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels ½′ long, in 3 or 4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube broad-obconic, glabrous or puberulous, the lobes sometimes slightly clavate at the acute red apex, scarious on the margins, and hoary-tomentose on the inner surface; petals nearly orbicular, contracted at the base into a short claw. Fruit ripening from July to September, on slender stems ½′ to nearly 1′ long, globose, without a basal depression, about ½′ in diameter, with a tough thick black or on some individuals yellow, and on others bright red skin covered with a glaucous bloom, and thick acid flesh; stone flattened with thin brittle walls, ½′ long, ¼′—5/16′ wide and half as thick, acute at the ends, slightly rugose, conspicuously ridged on the ventral suture, and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, sometimes 15°—20° high, with a short often crooked or inclining trunk 6′—10′ in diameter, slender unarmed branches forming a wide compact flat-topped head, and slender branchlets more or less densely coated at first with pale pubescence, soon becoming glabrous, lustrous and bright red, and in their second year dark dull brown and marked by occasional orange-colored oblong lenticels; or frequently a low shrub. Winter-buds about 1/16′ long, with acute chestnut-brown apiculate scales, those of the inner rows at maturity ¼′ long and red at the apex. Bark ¼′ thick, dark brown, separating into small appressed persistent scales. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, dark reddish brown, with thick lighter colored sapwood of about 30 layers of annual growth. The fruit is used in large quantities in making jellies and jams.
Distribution. Stanly County (near Albemarle, J. S. Holmes), North Carolina, and South Carolina southward, usually in the neighborhood of the coast, to Orange County, Florida, and westward to eastern Texas and southern Arkansas. The form with red fruit common in the interior of the Florida peninsula (Orange County). Variable in the amount of its pubescence and slightly variable in the shape of the fruit, and passing into var. injucunda Sarg. (Prunus mitis Beadl.). A small tree with branchlets hoary tomentose when they first appear, becoming pubescent, and puberulous in their second season, leaves more or less tomentose below, villose pedicels, calyx and ovary, and subglobose to short-oblong fruit. Central and southern Georgia (base of Stone Mountain and Little Stone Mountain, De Kalb County, and near Augusta, Richmond County), and eastern Alabama (near Auburn, Lee County). More distinct is
Prunus umbellata var. tarda Wight
Prunus tarda Sarg.
Differing from the type in the more oblong stone of the later-ripening fruit, lighter-colored bark and larger size.
Leaves oblong or oval, or occasionally obovate, acute or acuminate and short-pointed at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate at base, and finely serrate with straight or incurved teeth tipped with dark minute persistent glands, when they unfold glabrous or rarely scabrous or puberulous above and cinereo-tomentose below, and at maturity thick and firm, dark yellow-green and glabrous on the upper surface, pale and pubescent or puberulous on the lower surface, especially along the prominent light yellow midrib and thin primary veins, 1½′—3′ long and ¾′—1¼′ wide; petioles stout, tomentose or ultimately pubescent, ⅓′—½′ in length, glandular at apex with 2 large round stalked dark glands, or often eglandular; stipules acicular, often bright red, about ⅓′ long. Flowers appearing early in April with or before the leaves, about ¾′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels, in 2 or 3-flowered umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, glabrous toward the base, villose above, the lobes acute, entire, villose on the outer surface, hoary-tomentose on the inner surface; petals oblong-obovate, gradually contracted below into a short claw. Fruit ripening late in October or early in November, on stout rigid pedicels, short-oblong to subglobose, ⅓′—½′ long, clear bright yellow on some trees, bright red on others, and on others purple, dark blue, or black, with tough thick skin, and thick very acid flesh; stone ovoid more or less compressed, very rugose, obscurely ridged on the ventral suture and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture, acute and apiculate at apex, and rounded at base.
A tree, 20°—25° high, with a tall trunk 18′—20′ in diameter, wide-spreading branches forming an open symmetrical head, and slender branchlets marked by small scattered dark lenticels, light-green and hoary-tomentose when they first appear, becoming glabrous, light red-brown and lustrous during their first summer and darker at the end of their second year. Winter-buds narrow, acute, the color of the branchlets, 1/16′—⅛′ long. Bark ½′—⅝′ thick, light brown tinged with red, and divided by shallow interrupted fissures into flat ridges broken on the surface into small loose plate-like scales.
Distribution. Glades and open woods in the neighborhood of Marshall, Harrison County, Texas, to western Louisiana, southern Arkansas, and western Mississippi.
3. [Prunus nigra] Ait. Red Plum. Canada Plum.
Leaves oblong-ovate to obovate, abruptly contracted at apex into a long narrow point, cuneate, truncate or slightly cordate at base, and doubly crenate-serrate with small dark glandular teeth, when they unfold faintly tinged with red and pubescent on the under surface or glabrous with the exception of conspicuous tufts of slender white or rufous hairs in the axils of the primary veins, and at maturity thick and firm, dull dark green on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface, 3′—5′ long and 1½′—3′ wide, with a conspicuous pale midrib and slender veins; petioles stout, biglandular at apex with 2 large dark glands, ½′—1′ in length; stipules lanceolate or on vigorous shoots often 3—5-lobed, glandular-serrate, ½′ long. Flowers appearing in early spring with or before the leaves, 1¼′ in diameter, on slender glabrous dark red pedicels, ½′—⅔′ long, in 3 or 4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube broad-obconic, dark red on the outer surface, bright red on the inner surface, the lobes narrow, acute, glandular, glabrous or occasionally pubescent on the outer surface, reflexed after the flowers open; petals broad-ovate, rounded at apex, more or less erose on the margins, contracted at base into a short claw, white, turning pink in fading. Fruit ripening from the middle to the end of August, oblong-oval, 1′—1¼′ long, with a tough thick orange-red skin nearly destitute of bloom, and yellow rather austere flesh; stone oval, compressed, 1′ long, ⅔′ wide, thick-walled, acutely ridged on the ventral suture and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, 20°—30° high, with a trunk sometimes 8′—10′ in diameter, divided usually 5°—6° from the ground into a number of stout upright branches forming a narrow rigid head, stout slightly zigzag branchlets marked by numerous pale excrescences, bright green, glabrous or puberulous at first, and dark brown tinged with red in their second season, and stout spiny lateral spur-like secondary branchlets. Winter-buds acuminate, ⅛′—¼′ long, with chestnut-brown, triangular scales pale and scarious on the margins. Bark about ⅛′ thick, light gray-brown, with a smooth outer layer exfoliating in large thick plates of several papery layers, and in falling exposing the darker slightly fissured scaly inner bark. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, rich bright red-brown, with thin lighter colored sapwood.
Distribution. In the alluvial soil of river valleys and on limestone hills; western New Brunswick (near the mouth of the Aroostook River) to the valley of the Saint Lawrence River and westward to the southern shore of Georgian Bay, the northern shore of Lake Superior (west of Port Arthur, Ontario), the valley of the Winnipeg River, Manitoba, and southward to northern New England, central and western New York, northern Ohio (Lorraine County), southern Michigan, northeastern Illinois, southeastern and western Wisconsin (valley of the Wisconsin River), eastern Minnesota and North Dakota.
Often cultivated in Canadian gardens and occasionally in those of the northern states as a fruit-tree or for the beauty of its flowers. Varieties are propagated by pomologists.
4. [Prunus americana] Marsh. Wild Plum.
Leaves oval to oblong-oval or slightly obovate, acuminate at apex, narrowed and cuneate or rounded at base, and sharply often doubly serrate with slender apiculate teeth, when they unfold glabrous or slightly pubescent, and often furnished below with conspicuous axillary tufts of pale hairs, and at maturity thick and firm, more or less rugose, dark green on the upper surface, pale and glabrous on the lower surface, 3′—4′ long and 1½′—1¾′ wide, with a thin midrib glabrous or villose-pubescent on the lower side, and slender primary veins; petioles slender, eglandular or furnished near the apex with one or two glands, glabrous or puberulous, ½′—¾′ in length. Flowers appearing in early spring before or with the unfolding of the leaves, 1′ in diameter, bad-smelling, on slender glabrous pedicels ⅓′—⅔′ long, in 2—5-flowered umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, bright red, glabrous or puberulous, green on the inner surface, the lobes lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, eglandular or obscurely glandular above the middle, usually dentate toward the apex, glabrous or puberulous on the outer surface, soft-pubescent on the inner surface; petals rounded and irregularly laciniate at apex, contracted below into a long narrow claw, bright red at base, ½′ long and ¼′ wide. Fruit ripening in June at the south and from the middle of August to early October at the north, subglobose or slightly elongated, usually rather less than 1′ in diameter, in ripening turning from green to orange often with a red cheek, becoming bright red when fully ripe, usually destitute of bloom and more or less conspicuously marked by pale spots, with a thick tough acerb skin and bright yellow succulent rather juicy acid flesh; stone oval slightly rugose rounded at apex, more or less narrowed at base, ¾′—1′ long and ⅖′—⅗′ wide, often as thick as broad, slightly and acutely ridged on the ventral suture and obscurely grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree 20°—35° high, with a trunk rarely exceeding 1° in diameter and dividing usually 4° or 5° from the ground into many spreading branches often pendulous at the end and forming a broad graceful head and slender glabrous branchlets at first bright green, light orange-brown during their first winter, becoming darker and often tinged with red and marked by minute circular raised lenticels, and furnished with long slender remote sometimes spinescent lateral branchlets; usually spreading by shoots from the roots into broad thickets, or in the Gulf States growing with a single stem. Winter-buds acute, ⅛′—¼′ long, the chestnut-brown scales more or less erose on the margins, the inner scales when fully grown foliaceous, ½′ long, oblong, acute, remotely serrate, with 2 narrow acuminate lateral lobes. Bark about ½′ thick, dark brown tinged with red, the outer layer separating into long thin persistent plates, southward often lighter-colored. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, strong, dark rich brown tinged with red, with thin lighter-colored sapwood. The fruit is sometimes used in the preparation of jellies and preserves, and is eaten raw or cooked.
Distribution. In the middle and northern states in rich soil, growing along the borders of streams and swamps; in the south Atlantic states often in river swamps; west of the Mississippi on bottom-lands, dry uplands and low mountain slopes; western Connecticut (Gaylordsville, Litchfield County), Eastern Greenbush, Rensselaer County and central New York to southern Ontario, central Michigan and northern Indiana, and northwestward to North Dakota, Manitoba (near Brandon), the Bitter Root Mountains, Wyoming and western Montana (Dixon, Sanders County), and southward to western Florida, central Mississippi, Alabama, eastern Louisiana, Missouri, southern Arkansas, eastern Kansas and Oklahoma, and in the Rocky Mountain region along the eastern foothills of Colorado to northern New Mexico (near Las Vegas, San Miguel County); and northeastern Utah (near Logan, Cache County); on the southern Appalachian Mountains ascending to altitudes of 3000°, and in South Carolina and Georgia extending to the immediate neighborhood of the coast; in the Rocky Mountain region usually a low shrub forming large thickets. Passing into the var. floridana Sarg., differing in its much thinner finely serrate leaves and purple fruit. A small tree without root suckers; low rich woods near St. Marks, Wakulla County, western Florida; common.
5. [Prunus lanata] Mack. & Bush.
Prunus americana lanata Sudw.
Prunus Palmeri Sarg.
Leaves ovate to oblong-obovate, elliptic or rarely slightly obovate, abruptly acuminate and long-pointed at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate or rarely rounded at base, and coarsely often doubly serrate with apiculate spreading teeth, when they unfold sparingly covered above by short caducous hairs and below by long white spreading hairs, and at maturity thin, light yellow-green and glabrous on the upper surface, pale and more or less densely covered below with close soft pubescence at the south often becoming fuscous late in the season, and villose on the midrib and primary veins, 2½′—4′ long and 1½′—2½′ wide; petioles slender, pubescent, eglandular or furnished with a gland near the apex, ½′—⅔′ in length, stipules linear, acuminate, occasionally 3-lobed, villose, sparingly glandular. Flowers about ¾′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels ½′—⅔′ in length, in 2—5-flowered umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, puberulous, the lobes long, acuminate, entire or rarely slightly serrate toward the apex, ciliate on the margins, puberulous and more or less tinged with red on the outer surface, pubescent on the inner surface; petals oblong-oval, narrowed and rounded at apex, gradually narrowed below into a long claw, about ¼′ wide; stamens about 25; style elongated, exceeding the stamens. Fruit on drooping glabrous pedicels, ellipsoid, deep crimson covered with a glaucous bloom, often 1′ long and ⅘′ in diameter, with thick succulent flesh; stone oblong, compressed, rounded at base, pointed and apiculate at apex, ridged on the dorsal edge with a thin narrow ridge, thin and slightly grooved on the ventral edge.
A tree 20°—30° high, with a trunk 12′—18′ in diameter, small erect branches and slender unarmed branchlets light yellow-green and puberulous or pubescent when they first appear, usually becoming glabrous before the end of their first season, light orange-brown during their first season and dark red-brown the following year; sometimes a shrub only a few feet tall; usually growing with a single well-developed trunk; occasionally spreading by suckers from the roots into small thickets. Winter-buds acute, ⅛′—⅙′ long, with light chestnut-brown puberulous scales ciliate on the margins. Bark pale gray-brown, exfoliating in large thin scales.
Distribution. Hillsides and river-bottom lands; southern Indiana (near Columbus, Bartholomew County, and Gordon Hills, Gibson County), through southern Illinois (Gallatin, Pope, Richland and Johnson Counties) to western Kentucky (Ballard and Hickman Counties); through Missouri and Arkansas to eastern Oklahoma, western Louisiana and eastern Texas to Wilson County (Southerland Springs); through eastern Louisiana (West Feliciana and Tammany Parishes), and near Selma, Dallas County, Alabama.
6. [Prunus tenuifolia] Sarg.
Leaves oblong to oblong-obovate or elliptic, gradually narrowed and acute or acuminate and often abruptly long-pointed at apex, cuneate or often narrowed and rounded at base, finely doubly serrate with teeth pointing to the apex of the leaf, at maturity thin, dark yellow-green and sparingly covered above with short soft white hairs, paler and soft pubescent below, especially on the slender midrib, and 7 or 8 pairs of thin primary veins connected by occasional cross veinlets, 3′—4′ long and 1¼′—2′ wide; petioles slender, pubescent, becoming puberulous or nearly glabrous, glandular near the apex with 1—3 prominent dark glands, or eglandular. Flowers ⅘′ in diameter, opening from the middle to the end of March, on slender pedicels ⅖′—⅘′ long, furnished near the apex with a few long white hairs, in 2—4-flowered sessile umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, glabrous with the exception of occasional long scattered white hairs near the base, the lobes narrow, entire, or minutely dentate near the rounded apex, ciliate on the margins, pubescent on the outer surface, densely villose on the inner surface, reflexed after anthesis; petals white, ovate-oblong, narrowed and rounded at apex, crenulate above the middle, gradually narrowed below into a short claw. Fruit on stout slightly hairy or glabrous stems, oblong to oblong-obovoid, red, covered with a thick glaucous bloom, ⅗′—¾′ long and ½′—⅗′ in diameter, with a thick skin and thin flesh; stone oblong, compressed, pointed at the ends, slightly sulcate at apex, unsymmetric, ridged on the full and rounded dorsal edge with a broad thin ridge, thin nearly straight and only slightly grooved on the ventral edge, ⅖′—⅗′ long and about ½′ wide.
A tree 30° high, with a tall trunk usually about 12′ but occasionally 18′ in diameter, stout spreading branches and stout or slender glabrous branchlets light orange green when they first appear, becoming light gray or red-brown and lustrous at the end of their first season, and dark dull red-brown the following year. Bark of the trunk and large branches thick, pale gray, and broken into long plate-like scales.
Distribution. Dry Oak-woods near Jacksonville and Larissa, Cherokee County, Texas.
7. [Prunus mexicana] S. Wats. Big Tree Plum.
Prunus arkansana Sarg.
Leaves ovate to elliptic or obovate, abruptly long-pointed and acuminate at apex, rounded or rarely cuneate and often glandular at base, and finely doubly serrate with apiculate slender straight or slightly incurved teeth, at maturity thick, dark yellow-green, glabrous and lustrous on the upper surface, paler and sparingly covered on the lower surface with long soft white hairs most abundant on the prominent midrib and primary veins and on the numerous conspicuous reticulate veinlets, 1¾′—3¼′ long and 1¼′—2′ wide; petioles stout, pubescent or puberulous, glandular at apex with large dark glands, or eglandular, ⅖′—⅗′ in length. Flowers appearing in March before the leaves, 1′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels in 3 or 4-flowered sessile umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, glabrous, the lobes oblong or oblong-ovate, about as long as the tube, rounded and laciniate at apex or entire, ciliate and glandular on the margins with small sessile glands, puberulous on the outer surface, hoary-tomentose on the inner surface, reflexed after anthesis; petals sometimes puberulous on the outer surface toward the base, ovate-orbicular to oblong-ovate, rounded at the narrow apex, crenulate, abruptly or gradually narrowed below into a short claw, about 3 times as long as the calyx-lobes; style longer than the stamens. Fruit ripening from the end of August to early October, subglobose to short-oblong, rounded at the ends, dark purple-red with a slight glaucous bloom, 1¼′—1⅓′ long and 1′—1¼′ in diameter, with thick succulent flesh; stone smooth obovoid to nearly circular, turgid, unsymmetric, narrowed and rounded at base, rounded or short-pointed at apex, ridged on the rounded dorsal edge with a broad thin ridge, thin, less rounded and grooved on the ventral edge, ¾′—1′ long and about ½′ wide.
A tree from 20°—25° high, with a trunk sometimes 8′—10′ in diameter, stout branches forming an open irregular head, and slender glabrous branchlets light orange-brown, very lustrous and marked by dark lenticels during their first winter and dull gray-brown the following year. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, glabrous, ¼′ long. Bark dark, nearly black or light gray, exfoliating in plate-like scales on young stems and large branches, becoming rough and deeply furrowed on old trunks.
Distribution. Open woods on rich alluvial bottom-lands, upland prairies and hillsides; southeastern Kansas (near Parsons, Labette County), through Arkansas to western Oklahoma (Navina, Logan County, Minca, Grady County), western Louisiana, northern and eastern Texas to the valley of the San Antonio River, ranging westward in Texas over the Edwards Plateau and to Brown and Palo Pinto Counties; in West Feliciana Parish, eastern Louisiana; in Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
Passing into the following varieties:
Prunus mexicana var. reticulata Sarg. Differing in its thicker leaves more often narrowed at base, with more prominent reticulate veinlets, pubescent pedicels, globose fruit ripening late in September or in October, with thin, bitter, astringent flesh and dark deeply furrowed bark.
Distribution. Uplands and along the margins of river bottoms; neighborhood of Denison and Sherman, Grayson County, northern Texas.
Prunus mexicana var. polyandra Sarg.
Differing in the narrowed base of the leaves, the more numerous stamens, in its earlier ripening fruit, with an obovoid compressed stone pointed at apex and gradually narrowed and acute at base.
Distribution. Rich woods near Fulton, Hempstead County, Arkansas.
Prunus mexicana var. fultonensis Sarg.
Differing in its thinner leaves pubescent below over the whole surface, and in its smaller dark bluish-purple fruit, ripening in June, with thin flesh and a compressed stone pointed at apex and gradually narrowed and acute at base.
Distribution. Rich woods near Fulton, Hempstead County, Arkansas.
8. [Prunus alleghaniensis] Porter. Sloe.
Leaves lanceolate to oblong-ovate, often long-pointed, finely and sharply serrate with glandular teeth, and furnished at base with 2 large rather conspicuous glands, when they unfold covered with soft pubescence, and at maturity puberulous on the upper surface, and glabrous with the exception of a few hairs in the axils of the veins, or covered, especially along the broad midrib and conspicuous veins, with rufous pubescence on the lower surface, rather thick and firm in texture, dark green above and paler below, 2′—3½′ long and ⅔′—1¼′ wide; petioles slender, grooved, pubescent or puberulous, ¼′—⅓′ in length. Flowers appearing in May with the unfolding of the leaves, ½′ in diameter, on slender puberulous pedicels ½′—⅔′ long, in 2—4-flowered umbels; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, pubescent or puberulous on the outer surface, the lobes ovate-oblong, rounded at apex, scarious on the margins, and coated with pale tomentum on the inner surface; petals rounded at apex, contracted at base into a short claw, turning pink in fading. Fruit ripening the middle of August, on stout puberulous pedicels, subglobose or slightly oval to obovoid, ⅓′—⅔′ in diameter, with thick rather tough dark reddish-purple skin covered with a glaucous bloom, and yellow juicy austere flesh; stone thin-walled, turgid, two thirds as thick as broad, ¼′—½′ long, pointed at the ends, ridged on the ventral suture, and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.
A slender tree, occasionally 18°—20° high, with a trunk sometimes 6′—8′ in diameter, dividing into numerous erect rigid branches, and branchlets at first coated with pale caducous pubescence, becoming dark red and rather lustrous in their first winter, and ultimately nearly black, and unarmed, or sometimes armed with stout spinescent lateral spur-like branchlets. Winter-buds acuminate or obtuse, 1/16′ long, their inner scales accrescent, scarious, oblong, acute, ⅔′ long, bright red at apex. Bark ¼′ thick, dark brown, fissured and broken on the surface into thin persistent scales. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, brown tinged with red, with thin pale sapwood of 10—12 layers of annual growth. The fruit is made into preserves, jellies and jams.
Distribution. Low moist soil, often forming shrubby thickets sometimes of considerable extent, and dry ridges; slopes of Tusseys Mountain in the northwestern part of Huntingdon County, and over the main range of the Alleghany Mountains into Clearfield and Elk Counties, Pennsylvania; rocky ridges near the Natural Bridge, Rockbridge County, Virginia, and lower slopes of Peak Mountain on South Fork of Buffalo Creek, Ashe County, North Carolina (W. W. Ashe), and in southern Connecticut; of its largest size on limestone bluffs south of the Little Juniata River, Pennsylvania. A shrubby variety with leaves broader in proportion to their length and less acuminate at apex (var. Davisii Wight) occurs in Roscommon and Montmorency Counties, Michigan.
9. [Prunus hortulana] Bailey. Wild Plum.
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.
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 hairy below 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 1′—1½′ wide, with a thin conspicuous midrib rarely furnished toward the base with a fringe of rusty tomentum and slender veins; in the autumn turning clear bright yellow before falling; petioles slender, ½′—¾′ in length; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-serrate, ½′—¾′ 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. ¼′ 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, ⅓′—½′ in diameter, dark red when fully grown, almost black when ripe, with a thin skin, and dark purple juicy flesh of a pleasant vinous flavor; stone oblong-obovoid thin-walled, about ⅓′ 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° 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 during their first winter, and bright red the following year; usually much smaller and occasionally 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 ½′—⅔′ long. Bark ½′—¾′ 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 sapwood 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 Whitetop Mountain, Virginia, with larger and rather thicker leaves pale below and rather larger fruit, has been described as var. montana Britt.
16. [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, and at maturity thick and firm in texture, 4′—5′ long, about 2′ wide, dark dull green and glabrous on the upper surface, dull and covered on the lower surface with short simple or forked accrescent hairs most abundant and sometimes rufescent on the slender midrib and primary veins; petioles stout, tomentose, becoming pubescent, eglandular or occasionally furnished near the apex with 1 or 2 large dark glands, ¼′—½′ in length; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, glandular-serrate, bright red, ½′ long, caducous. Flowers appearing during the first week of May, when the leaves are about half grown, ¼′ in diameter, on pubescent pedicels from the axils of ovate or obovate acuminate bright pink caducous bracts, in spreading or erect slender pubescent racemes 3′—4′ long; calyx-tube broad, cup-shaped, puberulous, with short almost triangular lobes persistent on the fruit; petals white, nearly orbicular. Fruit ripening late in September, subglobose to short-oblong, ⅓′ in diameter, dark red or finally nearly black, with thin acid flesh; stone ovoid somewhat compressed, pointed at the ends, ¼′ long, ridged on the ventral suture with a broad low ridge, and slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, 25°—30° high, with a short trunk rarely 10′ in diameter, spreading somewhat drooping branches, and slender branchlets coated at first with pale tomentum, dark red-brown during their first season, becoming nearly glabrous before winter, and much darker in their second year. Bark of the trunk dark, rough, separating freely into small thin scales.
Distribution. Summits of the low mountains of central Alabama; rare and local.
17. [Prunus australis] Beadl. Wild Cherry.
Leaves obovate, oval or elliptic, gradually narrowed and obtusely short-pointed or sometimes acute at apex, rounded or occasionally cuneate at the narrowed base, and finely serrate with slender teeth tipped with minute dark red glands, when they unfold membranaceous, pale yellow-green and glabrous above, with the exception of occasional pale hairs along the midrib, and coated below with pale or ferrugineous pubescence, and at maturity thin but firm, dark dull green above, covered below with rufous hairs most abundant on the thin broad midrib, and on the slender primary veins extending nearly to the margins of the leaf, conspicuously reticulate-venulose, 2½′—4′ long and 1½′—2½′ wide; petioles rusty-tomentose, biglandular at apex with large dark glands, about ¼′ in length; stipules linear to linear-lanceolate, glandular, bright rose color, ¼′—½′ long. Flowers probably opening toward the end of April, on short pedicels from the axils of minute rose-colored caducous bracts, in slender spreading hoary-pubescent racemes 3′—4′ long; the expanded flowers not known. Fruit ripening and falling late in July, on pedicels ¼′ long, globose, surrounded at base by the calyx-lobes and remnants of the stamens, dark purple when fully ripe, and about ¼′ in diameter, with thin flesh; stone ovoid, compressed, rounded at base, pointed at apex, about ⅙′ long and broad, ridged on the ventral suture, with a low broad ridge, slightly grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, sometimes 60° tall, with a trunk 12′—16′ in diameter, spreading or ascending branches forming an oblong head, and slender branchlets coated at first with pale pubescence, becoming puberulous, dull red-brown, and roughened by numerous small pale elevated lenticels at the end of their first season, and glabrous or puberulous in their second year. Winter-buds ovoid, obtuse, about 1/12′ long, with acute dark red-brown glabrous scales. Bark of young stems and of the branches thin, silvery gray, and roughened by long horizontal lenticels, becoming on older trunks ⅓′ thick, ashy gray or brownish black, deeply fissured and broken into thick persistent plate-like scales.
Distribution. Clay soil at Evergreen, Conecut County, Alabama; common.
18. [Prunus virens] Shrive. Wild Cherry.
Padus virens Woot. & Stanl.
Prunus serotina, ed. 1, in so far as relates to western Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Leaves elliptic, ovate or rarely slightly obovate, acute, rounded or occasionally acuminate or abruptly narrowed into a short obtuse point at apex, rounded or broad-cuneate at base, finely crenately serrate, glabrous, light green and lustrous on the upper surface, lighter green and glabrous on the lower surface, 1½′—2′ long and ¾′—1′ wide, with a slender midrib, thin veins and reticulate veinlets; petioles slender, glabrous or rarely slightly villose, without glands, ¼′—½′ in length. Flowers appearing when the leaves are nearly fully grown from the first to the middle of May, ¼′ in diameter, on slender glabrous pedicels, in erect or spreading many-flowered glabrous or puberulous racemes 3′—6′ long; calyx-tube saucer-shaped, glabrous, 3/16′ wide, persistent under the fruit, the lobes short-pointed, acute, persistent; petals broad-obovate, pure white. Fruit ripening in August and September, in erect or spreading racemes, subglobose to short-oblong, purplish black and lustrous at maturity, ¼′—½′ in diameter, with thin juicy acrid flesh; stone compressed, slightly obovoid ¼′ in diameter, with a low broad ridge on the ventral suture, and rounded on the dorsal suture.
A tree in sheltered cañons sometimes 25°—30° high, with a trunk 18′ or 20′ in diameter, small, usually drooping or occasionally wide-spreading branches, and slender glabrous red-brown pendulous branchlets marked by small pale lenticels, becoming gray-brown in their second year; on open mountain slopes a shrub with numerous erect stems and usually smaller leaves. Winter-buds acute or acuminate, 1/16′—⅛′ long, with slightly villose red-brown scales. Bark near the base of old trunks ¼′ thick, nearly black, deeply fissured and broken on the surface into thin persistent scales, higher on the trunk and on small stems thin, smooth, reddish or gray-brown, lustrous and marked by many narrow oblong pale horizontal lenticels.
Distribution. Guadalupe Mountains, western Texas, over the mountain ranges of southern New Mexico and Arizona, extending northward in Arizona to the cañons of the Colorado plateau south of the Colorado River; widely and generally distributed at altitudes between 5000° and 8000°, but nowhere abundant. Passing into var. rufula Sarg., differing in the rusty brown pubescence on the lower side of the midrib of the leaves, in the pubescent petiole and lower part of the rachis, in the puberulous ovary, and in the rusty brown pubescence of the young branchlets.
Distribution. With the species on many of the mountain ranges of southern New Mexico and Arizona at altitudes between 5400° and 6000°.
19. [Prunus caroliniana] Ait. Wild Orange. Mock Orange.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, mucronate, with entire thickened slightly revolute margins, or rarely remotely spinulose-serrate, glabrous, coriaceous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, 2′—4½′ long and ¾′—1½′ wide, and obscurely veined, with a narrow pale midrib; persistent until their second year; petioles stout, broad, orange-colored; stipules foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate. Flowers appearing from February to April, on slender pedicels about ½′ long, from the axils of long-acuminate scarious red-tipped bracts, in dense racemes shorter than leaves; calyx-tube narrow-obconic, the lobes small, thin, rounded, undulate on the margins, reflexed after the flowers open, deciduous; petals boat-shaped, minute, cream-colored; stamens exserted, orange-colored, with glabrous filaments and large pale anthers; ovary gradually narrowed into a slender erect style enlarged above into a club-shaped stigma. Fruit ripening in the autumn, remaining on the branches until after the flowering period of the following year, oblong, short-pointed, black and lustrous, ½′ long, with a thick skin, and thin dry flesh; stone short-ovoid, pointed, nearly cylindric, about ½′ long, full and rounded at base, with thin fragile walls, obscurely ridged on the ventral suture and deeply grooved on the dorsal suture.
A tree, 30°—40° high, with a straight or inclining trunk sometimes 10′ in diameter, slender horizontal branches forming a narrow oblong or sometimes a broad head, and glabrous branchlets marked by occasional pale lenticels, slightly angled, at first light green, becoming bright red, and in the second season light brown or gray. Winter-buds acuminate, ⅛′ long, covered with narrow pointed dark chestnut-brown scales rounded on the back. Bark about ⅛′ thick, gray, smooth or slightly roughened by longitudinal fissures, and marked by large irregular dark blotches. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown or sometimes rich dark brown, with thick lighter colored sapwood. The partially withered leaves and young branches are often fatal to animals browsing upon them, owing to the considerable quantities of hydrocyanic acid which they contain.
Distribution. Deep rich moist bottom-lands; valley of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina, to the shores of Bay Biscayne and the valley of the Kissimee River, Florida, and through southern Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the valley of the Guadalupe River, Texas; in Bermuda; in the Atlantic and eastern Gulf states usually only in the immediate neighborhood of the sea, rarely ranging inland more than fifteen or twenty miles; common along the borders of hummocks in the center of the Florida peninsula and a characteristic tree on those in the region of Lake Apopka, Orange County; in Alabama ranging inland to Dallas County (Pleasant Hill, T. B. Harbison); most abundant and of its largest size in the valleys of eastern Texas, and here often forming great impenetrable thickets.
Often cultivated in the southern states as an ornamental plant and to form hedges; and when cultivated occasionally 50°—60° high, with a trunk 3° in diameter.
20. [Prunus myrtifolia] Urb.
Prunus sphærocarpa Sw.
Leaves elliptic to oblong-ovate, gradually or abruptly contracted into a broad obtuse point, or less commonly rounded or rarely emarginate at apex, cuneate at base, entire, with slightly thickened undulate margins, glabrous, eglandular, subcoriaceous, yellow-green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, obscurely veined, 2′—4½′ long and 1′—1½′ wide; persistent; petioles slender, orange-brown, ½′ to 1′ in length; stipules foliaceous, lanceolate, acuminate, entire, ¼′ long, early deciduous. Flowers opening in Florida in November, ⅛′ in diameter, on thin orange-colored pedicels ¼′—⅔′ long, in slender many-flowered erect racemes shorter than the leaves; calyx-tube obconic, bright orange-colored on the outer surface, marked by an orange band in the throat, the lobes thin, minute, acute, laciniate on the margins, deciduous, much shorter than the obovate rounded or acuminate white petals marked with yellow on the inner surface toward the base, contracted below into a short claw, reflexed at maturity; stamens exserted, with slender orange-colored subulate filaments and small yellow anthers; ovary sessile, contracted into a short stout style, terminating in a large club-shaped stigma. Fruit produced in Florida very sparingly, ripening either in the spring or early summer, subglobose to short-oblong, apiculate, orange-brown, ⅓′—½′ long, with thin dry flesh; stone thin-walled, cylindric, slightly narrowed at apex, and obscurely ridged on the ventral suture.
A glabrous tree, in Florida rarely 30°—40° high, with a trunk 5′—6′ in diameter, thin upright branches and slender orange-brown branchlets, becoming ashy gray or light brown tinged with red and marked by small circular pale lenticels. Bark of the trunk thin, smooth or slightly reticulate-fissured, light brown tinged with red. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, light clear red, with thick pale sapwood.
Distribution. Florida, rich hummock land, occasionally in the neighborhood of small streams and ponds near the shore of Bay Biscayne and on Long Key in the Everglades, Dade County; through the West Indies to Brazil.
21. [Prunus ilicifolia] Walp. Islay.
Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute, rounded or emarginate at apex, narrowed and rounded or truncate at base, with thickened coarsely spinosely toothed margins, the stout teeth near the base of the leaf often tipped with large dark glands, thick and coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, paler and yellow-green below, 1′—2½′ long, and 1′—1½′ wide, with a slender yellow midrib and obscure veins; deciduous during their second summer; petioles broad, ⅛′—½′ in length; stipules acuminate, obscurely denticulate, ¼′ long. Flowers opening from March to May, ⅓′ in diameter, on short slender pedicels from the axils of acuminate scarious bracts ¼′ in length and mostly deciduous before the opening of the flower-buds, in slender erect racemes 1½′—3′ long; calyx-tube cup-shaped, orange-brown, the lobes minute, acuminate, reflexed at maturity, deciduous, about one third as long as the obovate white petals rounded above and narrowed below into a short claw; stamens slightly exserted, with slender incurved filaments and minute yellow anthers; ovary sessile, abruptly contracted into a slender style usually bent near the summit at a right angle or rarely erect, and surmounted by a large orbicular stigma. Fruit ripening in November and December, subglobose, often compressed, ½′—⅔′ in diameter, dark red when fully grown, purple or sometimes nearly black at maturity, with thin slightly acid astringent flesh; stone ovoid slightly compressed, ½′—⅝′ long, short-pointed at apex, with thin brittle walls, light yellow-brown, conspicuously marked by reticulate orange-colored vein-like lines and with 3 orange bands radiating from the base to the apex along one suture, and with a single narrow band along the other suture.
A glabrous tree, 20°—30° high, with a trunk rarely 2° in diameter or more than 10°—12° long, stout spreading branches forming a dense compact head, and branchlets at first yellow-green or orange color, soon becoming gray or reddish brown and more or less conspicuously marked by minute pale lenticels, and in their second or third years by the large leaf-scars; usually much smaller and often a shrub sometimes only a foot or two high. Winter-buds acuminate, with dark red scales contracted into a long slender point, those of the inner ranks accrescent and persistent on the young branchlets until these have reached a length of several inches. Bark ⅓′—½′ thick, dark red-brown, and divided by deep fissures into small square plates. Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown, with thin lighter colored sapwood of 8—10 layers of annual growth; occasionally used for fuel.
Distribution. Borders of streams and moist sandy soil in the bottoms of cañons, and as a low shrub on dry hillsides and mesas from Solano County and the shores of the Bay of San Francisco southward through the coast ranges of California to the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, and the valley of the San Jacinto River; in Lower California southward to the western slopes of the San Pedro Mártir Mountains.
Generally cultivated as an ornamental plant in California and occasionally in western and southern Europe.
22. [Prunus Lyonii] Sarg.
Prunus integrifolia Sarg.
Leaves ovate to lanceolate, acuminate or abruptly narrowed into a short point at apex, cuneate, truncate or rounded at base, with thickened revolute undulate entire or occasionally, especially on vigorous shoots, remotely and minutely spinulose-dentate margins, glabrous, coriaceous, dark green and lustrous above, paler below, reticulate-venulose, 2′—3′ long and ½′—2½′ wide, with a stout midrib and obscure veins; persistent; petioles stout, yellow, ⅓′—½′ in length. Flowers appearing from March to June, about ¼′ in diameter, on slender pedicels from the axils of acuminate caducous bracts, in crowded many-flowered glabrous racemes 3′—4′ long; calyx-tube cup-shaped, orange-brown, the lobes acute, apiculate, reflexed after the flowers open, deciduous, about one third as long as the obovate petals rounded and undulate above and narrowed below into a short claw; stamens slightly exserted, with incurved filaments and small yellow anthers; ovary raised on a short stipe, the style bent near the apex and terminating in a large orbicular stigma. Fruit ripening late in the autumn, on stout pedicels, in drooping few-fruited racemes, subglobose to short-oblong, dark purple or nearly black at maturity, 1′—1¼′ in diameter, with thick luscious flesh sometimes ¼′ thick; stone ovoid to obovoid, slightly compressed, thin-walled, about ¾′ long, pointed at apex, pale yellow-brown, conspicuously marked by reticulate orange-colored lines, and by 3 dark bands radiating from base to apex along one suture, and by a single narrow line on the other suture.
A bushy tree, sometimes 25°—30° high, with one or several stout erect or spreading stems 1°—3° in diameter, spreading branches forming a broad compact head, and stout branchlets light yellow-green when they first appear, becoming light and ultimately dark reddish brown, and much roughened by the large elevated leaf-scars. Winter-buds acute or obtuse, with dark red scales. Bark of the trunk ⅓′—½′ thick and dark reddish brown. Wood heavy, hard, very close-grained, pale reddish brown, with hardly distinguishable sapwood.
Distribution. Islands of southern California, in all situations from the fertile valleys and cañons at the water’s edge up to altitudes of 3000° on the dry interior ridges; in Lower California.