34 



THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 



North America and appears to be promising for cold regions, both bud 

 and wood withstanding perfectly the most rigorous climates of the United 

 States. As it grows in America it is a bush and never a true tree. It is 

 a twiggy, close-jointed plant, usually with many stems springing from 

 the ground and these bearing branches quite to the base. Frequently 

 these low-growing branches bend to the ground and take root forming 

 new plants. The bushes are thickly clothed with leaves densely tomentose 

 on the underside, in this respect and in shape, as well, very unlike the 

 foliage of common cultivated cherries. The flowers appear in great abun- 

 dance with the leaves, making a handsome ornamental ; they are white, 

 becoming rose-colored as they fall away. The fruit ripens in mid-season 

 for cherries, setting profusely from the many blossoms. The cherries 

 are a half-inch in diameter, bright currant-red, covered with inconspicuous 

 hairs and contain a stone of medium size. They are pleasantly acid, 

 very juicy and withal a decided addition to cultivated cherries. Primus 

 tomentosa seems a most promising plant for domestication and of particular 

 merit for small gardens and cold regions. 



Koehne, in his list of cherries, names ten botanical varieties of 

 Prunits tovientosa. From this the species seems to be most variable and 

 under cultivation would probably break up into many forms some of which 

 might prove superior to the type species. Koehne's botanical varieties 

 are given under the species on page 22. 



PRUNUS PUMILA Linnaeus. 



I. Linnaeus Mant. PL 75. 1768. 2. Bailey Cor. Bui. Ex. Sta. 38:96. 1892. Bailey /. c. 70:260. 

 1894. 3. BaUey Cyc. Am. Hort. 3:1450. 1901. 



P. Susquehanae. 4. Willdenow Enum. PI. 519. 1809. 



P. depressa. 5. Pursh Fl. Am. 1:332. 1814. 



P. incana. 6. Schweinitz Long's Expedition by Keating 2:387. 1824. 



Cerasus glauca. 7. Moench Meth. 672. 1794. 



C. pumila. 8. Michaux Fl. Bor. Am. 2:286. 1803. 



C. depressa. 9. Seringe, in D3 Candolle Prod. 2:538. 1825. 



Plant a small shrub, five to eight feet in height, willow-like habit, weak, upright when 

 young but becoming decumbent, slow-growing, hardy; trunk slender, smooth except for 

 the raised lenticels; branches slender, smooth, twiggy, very dark, dull reddish-black with 

 a tinge of gray; lenticels niamerous, small, conspicuous; branchlets very slender, short, 

 twiggy, with short intemodes, dull grayish-brown, glabrous, with conspicuous, very small, 

 raised lenticels. 



Leaves hanging late in the season, small, averaging one and three-fourths inches 

 long, one inch wide, flat, abruptly pointed, narrowly oblanceolate to obovate, thin; upper 

 surface dark, dull green, smooth; lower surface light green, thinly pubescent on the 



