Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 26

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower with petals removed.

4. Petal.

5. Fruiting branch.

6. Stone.

=Prunus Americana, Marsh.=

A rare plant in New England, scarcely attaining tree-form. The most northern station yet reported is along the slopes of Graylock, Ma.s.sachusetts, where a few scattered shrubs were discovered in 1900 (J.

R. Churchill). In Connecticut it seems to be native in the vicinity of Southington, shrubs, and small trees 10-15 feet high (C. H. Bissell _in lit._, 1900); New Milford and Munroe, small trees (C. K. Averill).

Distinguished from _P. nigra_ by its sharply toothed leaves, smaller blossoms (the petals of which do not turn pink), and by its globose fruit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXII.--Prunus Americana.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.

4. Petal.

5. Flowering branch.

6. Stone.

=Prunus Pennsylvanica, L. f.=

RED CHERRY. PIN CHERRY. PIGEON CHERRY. BIRD CHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--Roadsides, clearings, burnt lands, hill slopes, occasional in rather low grounds.

From Labrador to the Rocky mountains, through British Columbia to the Coast Range.

Throughout New England; very common in the northern portions, as high up as 4500 feet upon Katahdin, less common southward and near the seacoast.

South to North Carolina; west to Minnesota and Missouri.

=Habit=.--A slender tree, seldom more than 30 feet high; trunk 8-10 inches in diameter, erect; branches at an angle of 45 or less; head rather open, roundish or oblong, characterized in spring by cl.u.s.ters of long-stemmed white flowers, and in autumn by a profusion of small red fruit.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk in fully grown trees dark brownish-red, conspicuously marked with coa.r.s.e horizontal lines; the outer layer peeling off in fine scales, disclosing a brighter red layer beneath; in young trees very smooth and shining throughout; lines very conspicuous in the larger branches; branchlets brownish-red with small horizontal lines; spray and season's shoots polished red, with minute orange dots.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, broad-conical, acute. Leaves numerous, 3-4 inches long, 1-2 inches wide, light green and shining on both sides, ovate-lanceolate, oval or oblong-lanceolate, finely serrate; teeth sharp-pointed, sometimes incurved; apex ac.u.minate; base obtuse or roundish; midrib depressed above; leafstalks short, channeled; stipules falling early.

=Inflorescence.=--June. Appearing with the leaves, in lateral cl.u.s.ters, the flowers on long, slender, somewhat branching stems; calyx 5-cleft; segments thin, reflexed; petals 5, white, obovate, short-clawed; stamens numerous; pistil 1; style 1.

=Fruit.=--About the size of a pea, round, light red, thin-meated and sour: stone oval or ovate.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a light gravelly loam, but grows in poor soils and exposed situations; habit so uncertain and tendency to sprout so decided that it is not wise to use it in ornamental plantations; sometimes very useful in sterile land. A variety with transparent yellowish fruit is occasionally met with, but is not yet in cultivation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXIII.--Prunus Pennsylvanica.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.

4. Petal.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Prunus Virginiana, L.=

CHOKECHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--In varying soils; along river banks, on dry plains, in woods, common along walls, often thickets.

From Newfoundland across the continent, as far north on the Mackenzie river as 62.

Common throughout New England; at an alt.i.tude of 4500 feet upon Mt.

Katahdin.

South to Georgia; west to Minnesota and Texas.

=Habit.=--Usually a shrub a few feet high, but occasionally a tree 15-25 feet in height, with a trunk diameter of 5-6 inches; head, in open places, spreading, somewhat symmetrical, with dull foliage, but very attractive in flower and fruit, the latter variable in color and quant.i.ty.

=Bark.=--Trunk and branches dull gray, darker on older trees, rough with raised buff-orange spots; branchlets dull grayish or reddish brown; season's shoots lighter, minutely dotted. Bitter to the taste.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds 1-1-1/4 inches long, conical, sharp-pointed, brown, slightly divergent from the stem.

Leaves 2-5 inches long and two-thirds as wide, dull green on the upper side, lighter beneath, obovate or oblong, thin, finely, sharply, and often doubly serrate; apex abruptly pointed; base roundish, obtuse or slightly heart-shaped; leafstalk round, grooved, with two or more glands near base of leaf; stipules long, narrow, ciliate, falling when the leaves expand.

=Inflorescence.=--Appearing in May, a week earlier than _P. serotina_, terminating lateral, leafy shoots of the season in numerous handsome, erect or spreading racemes, 2-4 inches long; flowers short-stemmed, about 1/3 inch across; petals white, roundish; edge often eroded; calyx 5-cleft with thin reflexed lobes, soon falling; stamens numerous; pistil 1; style 1.

=Fruit.=--In drooping racemes; varying from yellow to nearly black, commonly bright red, edible, but more or less astringent; stem somewhat persistent after the cherry falls.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in almost any soil, but prefers a deep, rich, moist loam. Vigorous young trees are attractive, but in New England they soon begin to show dead branches, and are so seriously affected by insects and fungous diseases that it is not wise to use them in ornamental plantations, or to permit them to remain on the roadside.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXIV.--Prunus Virginia.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Flowering branch.

3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.

4. A petal.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Prunus serotina, Ehrh.=

RUM CHERRY. BLACK CHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--In all sorts of soils and exposures; open places and rich woods.

Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.