ROSE FAMILY 227 



alike (Mt. Day, Santa Clara Co., B. J. Smith, and Calistoga, Jepson 13,841, glabrous forms are 

 quite like Berkeley Hills, Stanley Flanders, and Weldon Canon, Vaca Mts., Jepson 2181, pubescent 

 forms). Glandular petioles occur in all these states indifferently, or an occasional petiole may 

 lack glands. Since there is no correlation with other structures, such very slight variations as to 

 pubescence are not significant. In the Rocky Mts. the glabrous form is said to prevail and to 

 have larger darker drupes than P. virginiana L. of the Atlantic region (cf. P. virginiana var. 

 melanocarpa Sarg. Jour. Arn. Arb. 2:117, — 1920; Cerastis demissa var. melanocarpa Nels. Bot. 

 Gaz. 34 :25, — 1902, type from the Rocky Mts. ; Prnnus melanocarpa Rydb. Bull. Torr. Club 33 : 143 

 — 1906; Padvs melanocarpa Shafer, in Britt. & Shafer, N. A. Trees 504, — 1908). 



The spms. cited below as var. demissa we regard as representing one very definite form, al- 

 though showing some slight variations in pubescence. 



Locs. — S. Cal.: Mesa Grande, San Diego Co., E. Ferguson 59; French Valley, Palomar, 

 Jepson 1495; San Bernardino Mts. (PI. World 20:219) ; Icehouse Canon, San Gabriel Mts., Feir- 

 son 82a; Rock Creek, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 82. Coast Ranges: Santa Lucia Mts., Jepson 

 13,842; Little Arthur Creek, Gilroy, Jepson 9677; Mt. Hamilton, Jepson; Berkeley Hills, Jep- 

 son 2361; Calistoga (sw. of), Jepson 13,841; South Mill Creek, Ukiah, Jepson 9258; Jackson 

 Valley, Mendocino Co., Jepson 1866 ; North Fork Middle Eel River, s. Trinity Co., Jepson 13,840 ; 

 Sisson, Siskiyou Co., Jepson 13,839. Sierra Nevada: Cedar Creek, North Fork Kaweah River, 

 Jepson 619; Yosemite, Jepson 13,838; Italian Bar, Tuolumne Co., A. L. Grant 14; Honey Lake 

 Valley, Lassen Co., Jepson 7800; Deep Creek, Warner Mts., L. S. Smith 1113; Bidwell Creek, 

 Modoc Co., Jepson 7908. 



Economic note. — Cattlemen regard the Western Choke-cherry as somewhat poisonous to 

 sheep and cattle. Browsing of the shrubs is, however, not likely to be fatal unless the herbage 

 is eaten exclusively and in quantity in the midsummer season. 



Refs.— Prunus virginiana L. Sp. PI. 473 (1753), type from Virginia. Var. demissa Torr. 

 Bot. Wilkes Exp. 284 (1874). Cerasus demissa Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. 1:411 (1840), type loc. "plains 

 of the Oregon toward the sea at the mouth of the Wahlamet," Nuttall; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 

 286 (1901). PnmwsdemtssoWalp. Rep. 2:10 (1843); Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. ed. 2, 212 (1911), 

 Man. 506, fig. 505 (1925). Padus demissa Roem. Syn. Rosifl. 3:87 (1847). Padus virginiana var. 

 demissa C. K. Schn. 111. Handb. Laubh. 1 :642 (1906). 



3. P. ilicifolia Walp. Islay. Evergreen shrub 4 to 7, or small tree up to 25 

 feet high ; leaf -blades elliptic or ovate, acute or obtuse, coriaceous, spinose-toothed, 

 1 to 2 inches long, short-petioled ; racemes 1 to 2^/2 inches long, on axillary leafless 

 peduncles ; flowers 21/2 to 3^^ lines wide ; drupe red or dark purple, 6 to 8 lines 

 thick, slightly obcompressed, apiculate ; flesh thin, sweetish when ripe. 



Rocky mountain slopes and rich valleys, 100 to 4000 feet : Napa Range to Santa 

 Lucia Mts.. Tehachapi Range and cismontane Southern California. South to 

 Lower California. May, fr. Sept. 



Field note. — In the chaparral formation Prunus ilicifolia is a low bush 3 to 5 feet high, 

 assuming well the spiny look and rigid stems of its xerophytic associates. On rich valley floors 

 or along streams it becomes a tree 20 to 30 feet high, with a crown nearly as broad and a trunk 

 8 to 16 inches in diameter. The trunk bark is dark brown or almost black, roughish with rather 

 deep and close mostly longitudinal checks. This species has long been in cultivation. During 

 the great frost, Dec. 8-11, 1932, some individuals in gardens were killed in the Sacramento 

 Valley. It is also called Evergreen Cherry. 



Locs. — Napa Range (e. of Napa), F. A. Leach; Cordelia, Solano Co., Jepson 3076; Oakland 

 Hills; Pilarcitos stone dam, San Mateo Co., Elmer 4773; Los Altos, Santa Clara Valley, Jepson 

 9825; Alma, Santa Cruz Mts., Jepson 4171; Pacheco Pass, Santa Clara Co., Jepson 12,734; 

 Carmel Valley, Monterey Co., E. Ferguson 258; Lopez Canon, San Luis Obispo Co., TJnangst; 

 Cuddy Canon, Mt. Pinos region, Dudley ^ Lamb 4620 ; Santa Barbara, Jepson 9162 ; Topango 

 Canon, Santa Monica Mts., Epling 4- Ellison; Arroyo Seco, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 83; Cajon 

 Pass, Jepson 6112 ; San Bernardino, Parish; Banning, Toumey; San Jacinto River Canon, Jepson 

 1267 ; Hot Springs Mt., ne. San Diego Co., Jepson. 



Var. occidentalis Bdg. Island Cherry. Shrub or often a tree 15 to 45 feet high; leaves 

 oblong-ovate to suborbicular, 3 to 6 inches long, usually entire, but often spinosely serrate or 

 denticulate as in the mainland form. — Santa Barbara Islands: Santa Rosa Isl., T. Brandegee; 

 Pelican Bay, Santa Cruz Isl., Jepson 12,082; Swain Canon, Santa Catalina Isl., Jepson 3059; 

 San Clemente Isl., T. Brandegee. It also occurs in Lower California. 



Field note. — This variety, var. occidentalis, often occurs in bushy form and yet becomes tall. 

 On Santa Catalina Island one finds clumps 30 to 45 feet high, the 4 or 5 trunks ranging from 10 

 to 12 inches in diameter at 3 feet above the ground. The trunk bark is sometimes deciduous in 



