EXTENSIOI^ OF THE RAXGE OF PBUNUS UMBELLATA 

 INTO NORTH CAROLINA 



By J. S. Holmes 



During a study of the forest conditions of Stanlj and other south- 

 eastern Piedmont counties hnst summer (1917) I came across a species 

 of plum tree which I had not before seen. Having no books with me, 

 I sent a specimen to Dr. W. C. Coker of the State University and 

 he immediately identified it as Primus uinbeUata. 



The two species of plum common to North Carolina are Prunus 

 americana , the hog plum, and Prunus augustifoUa, the chickasaw 

 plum. These two are generally distributed throughout the State, 

 though the former is more abundant in the upper districts and the 

 latter in the middle and lower districts. 



The fruit of Prunus umheUaia, known frequently as the sloe or 

 bullace plum, is much smaller than that of either of the above species. 

 It can hardly be classed as edible, being very sour and bitter ; however, 

 it is used to some extent in making jelly, probably mixed with the 

 larger and more palatable fruit of the other two species. The tree is 

 small, the largest one seen not exceeding six inches in diameter and 

 twenty-five feet in height ; the twigs are slenderer and less stiff than 

 the chickasaw plum and the tree is hardly as tall or as large as the 

 hog plum, which it more nearly resembles. It occurs in old-field 

 pine stands and on the borders of fields and roadsides, usually in 

 rather dry situations in sandy or gravelly soil. 



Its distribution in North Carolina as established by me during last 

 summer's field season is confined to the Pee Dee River region, in the 

 counties of Anson, Stanly, Montgomery, and Richmond. It was most 

 common within a few miles of the river, though in Stanly County it 

 was seen twelve miles west of that river and in Montgomery County 

 sixteen to eighteen miles east of it. The locality where it seemed to 

 be most abundant was on the east side of Stone Mountain in Stanly 

 County, a short distance below the mouth of the Uharie River and 

 only a few miles south of its northern limit at Badin in the same 



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