192 Class XII. Order I. 



ICOSANDRIA. 



MONOGYNIA. 



199. PRUNUS. 



PRUNUS VIRGINIANA. L. Wild Cherry. 



Racemes erect, elongated ; leaves deciduous, oval- 

 oblong, acuminate, unequally serrate, smooth on both 

 sides ; petioles with about four glands. 



Syn. CERASUS VIRGINIAN*. Mich. 



The wild cherry is with us a tree of middling size, although 

 further to the south and west it attains to a magnitude of the 

 first rate. Michaux mentions trees on the banks of the Ohio, 

 which are from eighty to a hundred feet high, and their trunks 

 from twelve to sixteen feet in circumference. The wood is a 

 well known material in cabinet work, approaching mahogany in 

 its colour and qualities. Leaves alternate, smooth, oval-oblong, 

 acuminate, serrate, with commonly two pair of glands at the top 

 of the petiole in front. Flowers in terminal clusters, white. 

 Fruit small, black, somewhat bitter. The bark has a strong, 

 bitterish, spicy taste, and has been found a useful tonic. May, 

 June. 

 *PRUNUS OBOVATA. Dwarf Choke Cherry. 



P. racemis patentibus ; foliis obovatis, acutis, 

 acutissime serratis, glabris. 



Racemes spreading ; leaves obovate, acute, very 

 sharply serrate, smooth. 



Syn, PRUNUS SEROTINA. Pursh. ? nee Willd. 



A shrub common about fences and woods, rarely rising to the 

 size of a small tree. The leaves are much broader than 

 those of P. Virginiana, obovate, acute, generally obtuse at base, 

 and sometimes hearted finely, equally, and very sharply ser- 

 rate, serratures not glandular, glabrous on both sides except 

 sometimes a small tuft of down in the axils of the lower veins 

 beneath. Petioles commonly furnished with two glands near the 

 top. Flowers white, in divergent, smooth racemes, considerably 



