﻿Trees of New York State 255 



ROSACEAE 



Primus avium L. 



Sweet Cherry, Mazzard 



Habit — A medium-sized tree usually 30-50 feet in height with a trunk 

 diameter of 1-2 feet, under favorable conditions sometimes 75 feet tall. 

 Trunk tapering, continuous into the crown. Lateral branches slender, 

 ascending, beginning a few feet above the ground, forming a narrowly 

 f)yramidal crown wMch becomes broad-spreading in age. 



Leaves — Alternate, oblong-ovate to obovate, 2-4^^ inches long, abruptly 

 short acuminate at the apex, rounded or slightly cordate at the base, 

 irregularly serrate, at maturity thin, rather flaccid, glabrous, dull dark 

 green above, paler and pubescent on the veins beneath, borne on slender 

 petioles %-l inch long. 



riowers — Appearing in April and May A\dth the leaves, perfect, about 1 inch 

 broad, borne on slender pedicels in 2-5-flowered, lateral, sessile umbels. 

 Calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous, reddish at the top, 5-lobed, the lobes 

 oblong, obtuse, reflexed. Petals 5, Avhite, orbicular, shallowly notched 

 at the apex, short-clawed at the base, inserted with the stamens on the 

 calyx-tube. Stamens about 30, with long, filiform filaments and oval 

 anthers. Pistil green, glabrous, consisting of a 1-celled ovary, long style, 

 and broad, simple stigma. 



Fruit — A depressed-globose, long-stalked, dark red or nearly black drupe, 

 about % of an inch in diameter in the ■wild form, usually borne in clus- 

 ters, appearing in June or July. Flesh sweet or somewhat tart, adhering 

 to the globose or ovoid stone. 



Winter characters — Twigs stout, glabrous, light reddish brown and lustrous, 

 or partly covered with a grayish, evanescent skin, with characteristic bitter 

 taste and odor when broken. Older twigs with short, stout, fruit-spurs 

 marked with many leaf -sears and terminally clustered buds. Buds ovate, 

 acute, divergent, glabrous, reddish brown, clustered near the tips of the 

 fruit-spurs or scattered on vigorous shoots, Vs-^/i of an inch long. ' Outer 

 bark thin, reddish brown, smooth aside from the prominent, horizontally 

 elongated lenticels, peeling off transversely to expose the lighter inner 

 bark. Mature bark in old trees roughened with shallow ridges. 



Habitat — An " escape " in waste places along fences, hedge rows, roadsides, 

 and in open woods. Widely disseminated through the agency of birds 

 and hence known as European Bird Cherry. 



Range — A native of southern Europe but now widely naturalized in eastern 

 United States. Frequent in New York State. Zones A, B, and C, 



Uses — Many of the cultivated garden cherries have been derived from this 

 species. Ornamental varieties, including double-flowered forms, may be 

 purchased from nurserymen. Wood heavy, rather soft, brittle, close- 

 grained. Used abroad for the manufacture of furniture, musical instru- 

 ments and in turnery. 



