Prunus pennsylvanica L. f.
HABIT.—A slender tree, seldom over 30 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 8-10 inches; crown rather open, narrow, rounded, with slender, regular branches.
LEAVES.—Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, 3/4-1-1/4 inches broad; oblong-lanceolate; finely and sharply serrate; bright green and shining above, paler beneath; petioles slender, 1/2-1 inch long, glandular near the blade.
FLOWERS.—May-June, with the leaves; perfect; about 1/2 inch across, borne on slender pedicels in 4-5-flowered umbels, generally clustered, 2-3 together; calyx 5-cleft, campanulate; petals 5, white, 1/4 inch long; stamens 15-20.
FRUIT.—July-August; a globular drupe, 1/4 inch in diameter, light red, with thick skin and sour flesh.
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud 1/8 inch long, broadly ovoid, rather blunt, brownish, smooth.
BARK.—Twigs at first lustrous, red, marked by orange colored lenticels, becoming brownish; red-brown and thin on the trunk, peeling off horizontally into broad, papery plates; bitter, aromatic.
WOOD.—Light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thin, yellow sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Throughout the northern portion of the state, extending southward to Ionia County.
HABITAT.—Abundant on sand-lands; roadsides; burned-over lands; clearings; hillsides.