Cerasjfs raroli/iidtta, 



THE CAROLINIAN CHERRY-TREE. 



Synonymcs. 



Cerasus raronnwna, 



Cerisier du Caroline, 

 Kirschbaiim von Carolina, 

 Ciliegio di Carolina, 

 Carolinian Bird Cherry-tree, 

 Carolinian Cherry, Wild Orange, 



MicHAUX, North American Sylva. 



Loudon, Arboretum Ikilannicnm. 



ToRREY AND Grav, Flora of North Amenca 



France. 



Germany, 



Italy. 



Britain. 



United States. 



Engravings 

 below. 



Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 89; Loudon, Arborelum Britannicum, ii., fig. 423, and the flgurei 



Specific Characters. Evergreen. Leaves, witli the petioles short ; and the disk lanceolate-oblong, mucro- 

 naie, even, rather coriaceous, mostly entire. Flowers densely disposed in axillary racemes, that ar* 

 shorter than the leaves. Fruit nearly globose, mucronate. De Candolle, Prodromus 



Description. 



PS?t^HE Cerasus ^ 



^ihr"!^ caroliniana, in 



^ LI (Q i ts natural hab- 

 _ ^T^i itat, usually at- 

 tains a height of twenty to fifty feet, 

 and ramifies at a short distance from 

 (he ground, forming a tufted head. 

 The bark of the trunk is of a dun col- 

 our, and is commonly without furrows 

 or cracks. The leaves arc smooth 

 and shining on their upper surfaces, 

 and are about three inches long. The 

 flowers are white, and numerous, be- 

 ing arranged in little bunches, from 

 one inch to an inch and a half long, 

 which spring from the axils of the 

 leaves, in the month of March or April. 

 The fruit, which is oval, and nearly black, consists of a soft stone, surrounded 

 by a small quantity of green, inedible pulp. It remains upon the branches 

 during the greater part of tlie second year, so that the tree is laden, at the same 

 time, both with flowers and fruit. 



Geography and History. The Cerasus caroliniana appears to be principally 

 confined to the Bahamas, and the islands along the coast of the Carolinas, Geor- 

 gia, and Florida. On the main land, it is often found growing wild, at a dis- 

 tance of a thousand miles from the sea. It was first made known to Europe by 

 Catesby, who sent seeds to Miller in 1759, under the name of " bastard mahog- 

 any." The largest recorded specimen in Britain is at Swallowfield, in Hamp- 

 shire, which, in 1833, formed a shrub ten feet in height, with a head twelve feet 

 in diameter. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Carolinian cherry is fine-grained, and 

 )f a roseate hue ; but the scarcity, and inferior size of the tree, forbids its use in 



'*4i!:vJP' 



