Maine,—abundant in the northern sections and common throughout; New Hampshire and Vermont,—frequent, especially in the northern sections; Massachusetts,—occasional; Rhode Island and Connecticut,—not reported.
Rare south of New England; west to Wisconsin.
Habit.—A shrub or small tree, 20-25 feet high; trunk 5-8 inches in diameter; branches stout, ascending, somewhat angular, with short, rigid branchlets, forming a stiff, narrow head.
Bark.—Bark of trunk grayish-brown, smooth in young trees, in old trees separating into large plates; smaller branches dark brown, season's shoots green.
Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds small, ovate, acute, dark brown.
Leaves 3-5 inches long, light green on the upper side, paler beneath, pubescent when young; outline ovate-obovate or orbicular, crenulate-serrate; teeth not bristle-tipped; apex abruptly acuminate; base wedge-shaped, rounded, somewhat heart-shaped, or narrowing to a short petiole more or less red-glandular near the blade; stipules usually linear, ciliate, soon falling.
Inflorescence.—Appearing in May before the leaves, in lateral, 2-3-flowered, slender-stemmed umbels; flowers about an inch broad, white when expanding, turning to pink; calyx 5-lobed, glandular; petals 5, obovate-oblong, contracting to a claw; stamens numerous; style 1, stigma 1.
Fruit.—A drupe, oblong-oval, 1-1½ inches long, orange or orange-red, skin tough, flesh adherent to the flat stone and pleasant to the taste. The fruit toward the southern limit of the species is often abortive, or develops through the growth of a fungus into monstrous forms.
Horticultural Value.—Hardy throughout New England, and will grow, when not shaded, in almost any dry or moist soil. It has a tendency to sucker freely, forming low, broad thickets, especially attractive from their early spring flowers and handsome autumn leaves.