474 ROSACEA. Peraphyllum. 



t.pumila: "dwarf; leaves small, roundish-oval, obtuse at both ends, 

 coarsely and sharply serrate from near the base, glabrous when young; 

 petals oblong, about twice the length of the calyx." A. pumila, Nutt. ! 

 mss. 



(f. oligocarpa : shrubby ; leaves mostly glabrous even when young, nar- 

 rowly oval or oblong, cuspidate, finely and sharply serrate ; racemes 2-4- 

 flowered ; petals obovate or obovate-oblong, about twice or thrice the length 

 of the calyx. — Mespilus Canadensis i. oligocarpa, Miclix. ! I. c. Pyrus 

 sanguinea, Pursh, I. c. ? Aronia sanguinea, Nutt. I. c. Amelanchier san- 

 guinea, DC. I. c ; Lindl. hot. reg. t. 1171 ; Hook. ! I. c. 



Along streams and in swampy grounds, sometimes in dry rocky places, 

 throughout the United States! and Canada! to Newfoundland ! and Subarc- 

 tic America. 6. Northern and Western States ! to Oregon ! e. Near the 

 sources of the Platte in the Rocky Mountains, Nuttall! <". Wet mountain 

 swamps. New York ! and New England States! to Newfoundland! Labra- 

 dor ! Hudson's Bay ! Saskatchawan ! &c. April-May. (February and 

 March in the Soutliern States.) — Fruit red, turning blackish-purple when 

 fully ripe, somewhat pruinose, sweet, ripening in July and August : 

 it is used by the aborigines in the Northern regions as an article of food. 

 Numerous forms intermediate between those here described constantly occur, 

 rendering it impossible to distinguish any of them as species, although the 

 last mentioned is the most peculiar. Indeed, except in the shorter and less 

 subulate calyx-segments, it is difficult to distinguish the American species' 

 from A. vulgaris. — Shad-floiver. 



30. PERAPHYLLUM. Natt. mss. 



" Calyx-tube urceolate ; the limb 5-lobed. Petals 5, broadly obovate, un- 

 guiculate. Stamens about 20, exserted. Styles 2, rarely 3, coherent below. 

 Pome small, nearly dry, containing 2 (rarely 3) almost distinct carpels, each 

 2-celled by a spurious dissepiment ; the cells 1 -seeded : endocarp cartilagin- 

 ous. Seeds angular, compressed : testa cartilaginous. — A low exceedingly 

 branched shrub, with rigid lanceolate much crowded leaves terminating the 

 branchlets. Corymbs 2-4 -flowered : petals white ?" 



P. ramosissimum (Nutt. ! mss.) 



" Dry hill-sides near the Blue Mountains of the Oregon. An exceedingly 

 branched shrub, 4-6 feet high, with hard white wood and greyish bark. 

 Branches short and tortuous, not thorny, covered with circular scars, the ci- 

 catrices of the fallen clustered leaves. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, an 

 inch or more in length, entire or obsoletely serrulate, smooth and shining 

 above, very minutely pubescent beneath. Stipules obsolete. Calyx urceo- 

 late, the tube wholly adnate to the ovary ; tlie border small ; segments reflexed, 

 tomentose within. Styles filiform, thickened towards the summit, longer 

 than the stamens, united and pubescent below. Fruit nearly globose, about 

 the size of a pea, dry (perhaps not always so, somewhat gelatinous when 

 steeped), with a brownish yellow vesicular epidermis : caqiels conic, pubes- 

 cent along the inside nearly to the base. Seeds dark brown, about half the 

 size of those of the Apple, but with a rather thicker testa, gibbous and 

 somewhat triangular, compressed at the sides. Seed erect. Radicle at the 

 base of the seed." Nutt. — Mr. Nuttall compares this curious plant -with 

 Purshia, which it is not unlike in habit. Its nearest affinity is doubtless 

 with Amelanchier, but it forms a very distinct genus. We have not seen 

 flowering specimens. 



