Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 24

=Bark.=--On old trees light brown and roughish on the trunk, separating into small scales curling up on one side; large limbs light-colored, smoothish, often conspicuously marked with coa.r.s.e horizontal blotches and leaf-scars; season's shoots light brown, smooth, silvery dotted.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Terminal bud 1 inch long, lateral 1/2 inch, appressed, brownish, scythe-shaped, acute, more or less glutinous.

Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, stems grooved and reddish above, enlarged at base; stipules deciduous; leaflets 7-15, the odd one stalked, 1-3 inches long, 1/2-1 inch wide, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth, mostly ovate-oblong, serrate above the base; apex rounded or more usually tapering suddenly to a short point, or rarely ac.u.minate; base inequilateral.

=Inflorescence.=--In broad, compound cymes at the ends of the branches; flowers white and rather larger than those of _P. America.n.u.s_; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, ovate, short-clawed; stamens numerous; pistil 3-styled.

=Fruit.=--In broad cymes; berries bright red, roundish, rather larger than those of _P. Americana_, holding on till winter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England, though of shrub-like proportions in the southern sections; grows in exposed situations inland, and along the seash.o.r.e. The dwarf habit, graceful foliage, and showy fruit give it an especial value in artificial plantations; but it is seldom for sale in nurseries and only occasionally by collectors. It is readily transplanted and is propagated by seed.

=Note.=--In the European mountain ash, _P. aucuparia_, the leaves have a blunter apex than is usually found in either of the American species, and have a more decided tendency to double serration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LVIII.--Pyrus sambucifolia.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.

4. Fruiting branch.

=Pyrus communis, L.=

PEAR TREE.

The common pear, introduced from Europe; a frequent escape from cultivation throughout New England and elsewhere; becomes scraggly and shrubby in a wild state.

=Pyrus Malus, L.=

_Malus Malus, Britton_.

APPLE TREE.

The common apple; introduced from Europe; a more or less frequent escape wherever extensively cultivated, like the pear showing a tendency in a wild state to reversion.

=Amelanchier Canadensis, Medic.=

SHADBUSH. JUNE-BERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--Dry, open woods, hillsides.

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.

New England,--throughout.

South to the Gulf of Mexico; west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Louisiana.

=Habit.=--Shrub or small tree, 10-25 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 6-10 inches, reaching sometimes a height of 40 feet and trunk diameter of 18 inches; head rather wide-spreading, slender-branched, open; conspicuous in early spring, while other trees are yet naked, by its profuse display of loose spreading cl.u.s.ters of white flowers, and the delicate tints of the silky opening foliage.

=Bark.=--Trunk and large branches greenish-gray, smooth; branchlets purplish-brown, smooth.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, oblong-conical, pointed. Leaves 2-3-1/2 inches long, about half as wide, slightly p.u.b.escent 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, p.u.b.escent 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, pa.s.sing 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LIX.--Amelanchier Canadensis.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.

4. Fruiting branch.

CRATaeGUS.

A revision of genus _Crataegus_ 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.

=Crataegus Crus-Galli, L.=

c.o.c.kSPUR THORN.

Rich soils, edge of swamps.

Quebec to Manitoba.

Found sparingly in western Vermont (_Flora of Vermont_, 1900); southern Connecticut (C. H. Bissell).

South to Georgia; west to Iowa.

A small tree, 10-25 feet in height and 6-12 inches in trunk diameter; best distinguished by its thorns and leaves.

Thorns numerous, straight, long (2-4 inches), slender; leaves thick, smooth, dark green, shining on the upper surface, pale beneath, turning dark orange red in autumn; outline obovate-oblanceolate, serrate above, entire or nearly so near base; apex acute or rounded; base decidedly wedge-shaped shaped; leafstalks short.

Fruit globose or very slightly pear-shaped, remaining on the tree throughout the winter.

Hardy throughout southern New England; used frequently for a hedge plant.

=Crataegus punctata, Jacq.=

Thickets, hillsides, borders of forests.

Quebec and Ontario.