128 JouRA'AL OF THE MiTciiELL SociETY [September 



Miss Alice Loiuisberiy, in her charming popuhir work on "South- 

 ern Wild Flowers and Trees" says of Prunus injucunda: 



"Hardly is there a tree or shrub of more delicate and chaste beauty than 

 this wild plum when in full bloom and the tiny young leaves are just begin- 

 ning to show themselves." 



Of Primus umhellafa she says: 

 "It has a similar look to Prunus injucunda.'' 



Perhaps, then, this may prove to be a valuable addition to our orna- 

 mental trees, if not to our economic assets. Certainly in July when 

 the reddish purple fruit is hanging in abundance from the slender 

 twigs it is a very pretty sight. The fruit hangs on a long while and 

 the leaves remain on in the fall considerably longer than they do on 

 the chickasaw plum. The photo given in Plate 7 shows a tree 51/2 

 inches in diameter (-i^/ij feet from the ground) and '20 feet in height. 

 This tree was in an old-field pine stand one mile west of Gibson's Mill, 

 Richmond County, ISTorth Carolina. The picture was taken by the 

 author November 17, 1917. 



In Dr. M. A. Curtis' "Woody Plants of North Carolina," pub- 

 lished in 1860, he gives, in addition to our two common plums, the 

 Sloe (P. spinosa Linn. ?). He says : 



"I have seen this only in Lincoln County, where it was pointed out to me by 

 Dr. Hunter, and called by the above name. As I have no notes upon this 

 small tree, I am now in uncertainty whether it be identical with the English 

 Sloe or Blackthorn, which is naturalized in some parts of the country, and is 

 considered by the best botanists to be the parent of the common cultivated- 

 plum (P. (lomestica, Linn.)." 



It is possible that this was an isolated specimen of P. unibellata, 

 as the Lincoln County line is only about forty miles west of its known 

 range in Stanly County, but neither this nor the Blackthorn, so far 

 as I know, has been otherwise reported from North Carolina. The 

 two trees are not much alike — the European Sloe or Blackthorn hav- 

 ing sharp stiff thorns and the twigs themselves are stiff and un- 

 yielding. It spreads by shoots from underground rootstocks, these 

 sprouts being used largely for making walking stick. The fruit is 

 black with a bloom and is "intensely austere and astringent." 



