132 MALACEAE 



like the bark of cherries. The branches are smooth and generally 

 grayish, and the branchlets more or less woolly-pubescent and 

 light or reddish brown. The obovate or sometimes oval leaves, 

 usually }i to 1 inch wide and 2 to 3 inches long, are generally 

 abruptly short-acuminate or acute and taper to the petiole at 

 the base. They are smooth above and more or less woolly- 

 pubescent beneath and stand on petioles seldom more than % 

 inch long. 



The flowers, which appear in the latter part of May, usually 

 stand in clusters of 12 or fewer, on peduncles Y^ to Yz inch 

 long. The calyx is generally densely woolly-pubescent on the 

 outside, and the lobes are triangular, always woolly on the in- 

 side, and may have a few red glands on the margins. The petals, 

 which are about i/s inch long, are broadly ovate to oval. The 

 fruit, which matures after the middle of August and on through 

 the fall, is variable in shape and size, and lustrous. It is even- 

 tually purplish black, dry, spherical, and a little less than Y 

 inch in diameter. 



Distribution. — The Purple Chokeberry grows in old tama- 

 rack bogs and similar situations and in such habitats ranges 

 from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and south to Florida. 

 In Illinois, it is to be sought only in the old bogs in the north- 

 eastern corner of the state. Early maturing fruit is much larger 

 than that matured later, very juicy, and somewhat astringent. 



ARONIA MELANOCARPA (Michaux) Elliott 

 Chokepear Black Chokeberry 



The Chokepear, fig. 30, is an upright shrub sometimes as 

 much as 12 feet high, with obovate or ovate, short-petioled, 

 glabrous leaves which may be obtuse, acute, or abruptly acu- 

 minate at the tip, and are narrowed or wedge shaped at the 

 base. The leaf margins are finely dentate, and the blade is 

 dark green above and pale beneath. Both calyx and pedicels 

 are glabrous. The flowers bear petals less than Y i^^h long, 

 which are ovate to obovate, and the fruit is globose or oval, 

 purplish black or black, Ya to one-third inch in diameter, and 

 it falls early. 



Distribution. — The Black Chokeberry grows near ponds or 

 in low woods, rarely on drier soil, and ranges from Nova 

 Scotia to Ontario and south to Florida and Illinois. In Illinois, 



