Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds small, oblong-conical, pointed. Leaves 2-3-½ inches long, about half as wide, slightly pubescent when young, dark bluish-green above at maturity, lighter beneath; outline varying from ovate to obovate, finely and sharply serrate; apex pointed or mucronate, often abruptly so; base somewhat heart-shaped or rounded; leafstalk about 1 inch long; stipules slender, silky, ciliate, soon falling.
Inflorescence.—April to May. Appearing with the leaves at the end of the branchlets in long, loose, spreading or drooping, nearly glabrous racemes; flowers large; calyx 5-cleft, campanulate, pubescent to nearly glabrous; segments lanceolate, acute, reflexed; petals 5, whole, narrow-oblong or oblong-spatulate, about 1 inch long, two to three times the length of the calyx; stamens numerous: ovary with style deeply 5-parted.
Fruit.—June to July. In drooping racemes, globose, passing through various colors to reddish, purplish, or black purple, long-stemmed, sweet and edible without decided flavor.
Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England; grows in all soils and situations except in wet lands, but prefers deep, rich, moist loam; very irregular in its habit of growth, sometimes forming a shrub, at other times a slender, unsymmetrical tree, and again a symmetrical tree with well-defined trunk. Its beautiful flowers, clean growth, attractive fruit and autumn foliage make it a desirable plant in landscape plantations where it can be grouped with other trees. Occasionally in nurseries; procurable from collectors.
Plate LIX.—Amelanchier Canadensis.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. |
| 4. Fruiting branch. |
Cratægus.
A revision of genus Cratægus has long been a desideratum with botanists. The present year has added numerous new species, most of which must be regarded as provisional until sufficient time has elapsed to note more carefully the limits of variation in previously existing species and to eliminate possible hybrids. During the present period of uncertainty it seems best to exclude most of the new species from the manuals until their status has been satisfactorily established by raising plants from the seed, or by prolonged observation over wide areas.