42 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



There are several ornamental forms of plums which are given specific 

 names by European horticulturists, mentioned in the last paragraph in 

 the discussion of the Domestica plums, which some writers place, in part 

 at least, with the Insititias. These plums are not found in America and 

 it is impossible to place them with certainty in either of the two species 

 upon the contradictory evidence of the Europeans. 



3. PRUNUS SPINOSA Linnaeus. 

 I. Linnaeus Sp. PI. 475. 1753. 2. Hudson Fl. .4)igZic. 1S6. 1778. 3. Ehrhart Beitr. Nat. 

 4:16. 1789. 4. J'uTsh Fl. Am. Sept. i:m. 1814. 5. Kooker Fl. Bor. Am. i:i6y. 1833. 6. Tor- 

 rey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:408. 1S40. 7. Koch, K. Dend. 1:98. 1869. 8. Ibid. Deut. Obst. 

 143. 1876. 9. DeCandolIe Or. Cult. PI. 212. 1885. 10. Schwarz Forst Bot. 339. 1892. 11. 

 Koch, W. Syn. Deut. u>id Schw. Fl. 1:726. 1892. 12. Dippel Hmidh. Laiihh. 3:637. 1893. 13. 

 Koehne Deut. Detid. 316. 1893. 14. Beck von Managetta Nied. Ocster. 818. 1893. 15. Bailey 

 Cyc. Am. Hort. 1447 fig. 1901. 16. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:628. 1906. 



Plant low, spreading, much-branched, thorny, shrubby, seldom attaining the 

 dimensions of a small tree; branchlets distinctly pubescent; leaves small, ovate or 

 oblong-ovate, sometimes obovate, numerous, nearly glabrous at maturity, obtuse at 

 the apex, cuneate or rounded at the base, margins closely and finely serrate. 



Flowers white, one-third or one-half inch in diameter, expanding before the leaves; 

 borne singly, in pairs or sometimes in threes, in lateral clusters. 



Fruit globose, usually less than one-half inch in diameter, dark blue, almost black, 

 with a heavy bloom; flesh juicy, firm, with an acid, austere taste, scarcely edible for 

 a dessert fruit but making a very good conserve; stone turgid or but little flattened, 

 acute on one edge. 



European botanists commonly break the species into a number of 

 sub-species, as: — Prunus spinosa typica Schneider," flower-pedicels and 

 calyx-cup glabrous; Prunus spinosa praecox Wim. and Grab.,' pedicels 

 short, blossoms appearing before the leaves ; Prunus spinosa sessiliflora 

 Beck,' with sessile flowers, possibly the same as the next preceding form ; 

 Prunus spinosa coatanea Wim. and Grab.*, blossoming with the leaves and 

 with long pedicels; di.nd Prunus spinosa dasyphylla SchviV.^, ^o-wer-^edicel 

 and calyx-cup more or" less hairy. Besides these botanical sub-divisions 

 there are several horticultural forms as follows: 



Prunus spinosa flore-pleno of the nurserymen is a double-flowered 

 form, making a beautiful little shrub or small tree much planted in gar- 



