CHAP. XLII. ROSA‘CEHR. CE'RASUS. 7YV1 
100 ft., with a trunk of 3ft. or 4ft. in diameter, rising straight and erect to 
the height of 25 ft., or nearly 30 ft. It varies much in size in different cli- 
mates and soils; according to Dr. Richardson, 
being only about 20 ft. high on the sandy plains 
of the Saskatchawan ; and, on the Great Slave 
Lake, in lat. 62°, seldom exceeding the height 
of 5ft. The bark is so peculiar, that the tree 
can be known by it, even when without its 
leaves, or when its branches are too far above 
the eye for the leaves to be examined indivi- 
dually. The general surface of the bark is =, 
smooth ; but it is blackish and rough, and de- 
taches itself in narrow semicircular plates, which 
are hard and thick, and adhere a time to the 
trunk before dropping off. The leaves are 5in. | 
or 6 in. in length, oval, acuminate, very much 
pointed, and of a beautiful, smooth, shining 
green, with small reddish glands at the base. 
It has been remarked, in America, that the 
leaves are more subject to be eaten by caterpillars than those of any 
other tree. It appears that Linnzus considered the P. virginiana as a 
variety of the common bird cherry; and Seringe, in De Candolle’s Prodro- 
mus, also expresses a doubt whether it may not be a variety of that species. 
To those who have seen the two trees known by these names in the London 
gardens growing together, there can be so little doubt on the subject, that we 
are tempted to conclude that the Prunus virginiana of Linneeus, and C. 
virginiana of De Candolle, must be a different plant from the C. virginiana of 
British gardens. The two species are easily distinguished, in all their stages, 
by their wood, which is much darker, and more robust, in C. Padus, than in 
C. virginiana ; by their leaves, which are rough, thick, and not shining in the 
former; while in the latter they are thin, smooth, and shining. The leaves 
of C. virginiana remain on till late in the autumn, and sometimes till spring, 
retaining their colour till they drop off; so that the tree may be considered as 
sub-evergreen ; while those of C. Padus become yellow in August, about the 
time the fruit ripens, and soon afterwards drop off. Sir W. J. Hooker 1s of 
opinion that Michaux has confounded C. virginiana with C. serdétina; but, 
as we believe them to be both the same, this is to usa matter of little conse- 
quence. If they are not distinct species, they are, at all events, very distinct 
races. 
Geography, History, §c. In the Atlantic states of America, as well as in 
those of the west, this cherry is more or less abundant, as the soil and climate 
are more or less favourable to its growth; to which extremes of cold and 
heat in the seasons, and of dryness and humidity in the soil, are alike unfa- 
vourable. It abounds in the Illinois, in Genessee, and in Upper Canada; but 
is nowhere more profusely multiplied, nor more fully developed, than beyond 
the mountains in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In the state 
of Maine, where the winter is long and intense, it hardly exceeds 30 ft. or 40 ft. 
in height, and from 8 in. to 12in. in diameter. In the southern and maritime 
parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia, where the summer is intensely hot, 
and where the soil is generally arid and sandy, it is rarely seen; and on the 
banks of rivers, where the ground is too wet, its dimensions are stinted ; but 
in the upper parts of these states, where the climate is milder, and the soil 
more fertile, it is sufficiently common, though less multiplied there than in 
Virginia and Pennsylvania. Wherever it abounds, it is found associated with 
Quéreus macrocarpa, Jiglans nigra, Gled{tschia triacanthos, U’lmus rubra, 
and Gymnécladus canadénsis; forming immense masses of forest, which it 
adorns by its beautiful flowers in May, and which it contributes to stock with 
birds, by the great nourishment which it affords to them with its fruits in 
August, September, and October. The Virginian bird cherry appears to 
have been one of the first North American trees brought to England; the 

