54 HANDBOOK 14 8, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



16. Glands on leafstalk (sometimes also on ieaf-blade 



base) ; leaf margins finely (sometimes doubly and 



unevenly) saw-toothed. 



17. Leaves circular or broadly egg-shaped, often 



somewhat heart-shaped (subcordate) at base and 



abruptly sharp-pointed at tip, 1-2 inches long; 



leaf margins sharply, doubly saw-toothed; true 



end buds lacking, twig tips dying back to topmost 



side bud, sometimes becoming sharp-pointed 



(spinescent) ; flowers white, fading rose, in clusters 



of 2 to 4, appearing before or with the leaves; 



plums red; straggly, crooked-branching shrubs or 



small trees; dry thickets, sw. Oreg., e. to Lake Co. ; 



not reported from Wash. 



Klamath plum (Prunus subcordata). 

 17. Leaves broadly elliptic to reversely egg-shaped, 

 sharp- to taper-pointed at tip, rounded or broadly 

 wedge- to heart-shaped at base, to 5 inches long; 

 margins finely saw-toothed ; true end buds present; 

 fresh-crushed leaves, twigs with strong peach-pit 

 odor and taste; foliage fatally poisonous to live- 

 stock under certain conditions; flow T ers stalked, 

 many, in elongate, erect or drooping end clusters 

 (racemes) on new leafy shoots; ripe fruits shiny, 

 bright red or black, sweet but with astringent 

 after-taste, falling free or with their stalks 

 (pedicels) attached; fruit-stalk scars in axils of 

 flower-stalk bract scars, or lowest sometimes in 

 leaf (or leaf-scar) axils; varieties hard to tell 

 apart except when in ripe fruit (late summer and 

 early fall) . 



common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana). 

 18. Ripe fruits bright red (drying dark purplish) 

 only slightly astringent, often persistent (as are 

 also abortive fruits) ; fruit-stalk scars often 

 elongate, with torn edges; leaves usually hairy, 

 averaging larger, thinner than those of black 

 common chokecherry; leaf-margin teeth 

 straight, evenly appressed, containing very 

 little green leaf substance (being mostly pale 

 cartilaginous margin), their gland tips mostly 

 persistent until leaves fall. 



western common chokecherry 

 (Prunus virginiana var. demissa). 

 18. Ripe fruits black, astringent, often falling with 

 stalks attached; abortive fruits rarely present; 

 fruit-stalk scars mostly circular, callus-covered ; 

 leaves usually hairless, averaging smaller and 

 thicker than those of western common choke- 

 cherry; leaf-margin teeth incurved, unevenly 

 appressed, containing more leaf substance and 

 less cartilaginous margin, their gland tips tiny, 

 soon falling or lacking. 



black common chokecherry (Prunus 

 virginiana var. melanocarpa) . 



