188 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
Prunus Americana and other species of the prunus vary much in 
their wild state in flower, fruit, foliage, season of maturity and 
other botanical characteristics, so much so that an enterprising 
botanist might easily pick up in the thickets of almost any natural 
area where they abound a dozen or more varieties with characters 
so distinct from the type as to entitle them to the distinction of 
specific varieties. 
The writer has no desire to inflict upon scientific botany any 
further division of the botanical characters ofa species which is 
already sufficiently defined, but only offers his classification for the 
purposes of this paper in the interest of economic horticulture. 
CLASSIFICATION. e 
Adopting le nomenclature used by Darwin in his “ Different 
Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species” and classifying 
as to morphology and function, we find the following fairly well 
defined forms in addition to the hermaphrodite form of botanists. 
DICHOGAMOUS GROUP. 
Proterogynous, (plate 1, fig. 1) on which the stigma is ready, for 
fertilization and has passed the receptive stage before the pollen 
matures. 
Proterandrous, (plate 1, fig 2) on which the pollen ripens and 
matures before the stigma is ready for fertilization. 
HETEROSTYLED GROUP. 
* 
Long-Styled, (plate 1, fig. 3) on which the pistil is nearly twice the 
length of the stamens. 
Short-Styled, (plate 1, fig. 4) on which the stamens are nearlv 
twice the length of the pistil. 
BISEXUAL GROUP. 
Gynodicecious, (plate 1, fig.5)on which the flowers in morphol- 
ogy consist of perfect flowers, but mostly females with anthers 
aborted and only a few grains of pollen, and these smaller and most- 
ly aborted. ' 
Andromoncecious, (plate 1, fig.6) on which the flowers in mor- 
phology consisit of perfect flowers, but mostly males with most of 
the pistils wanting or only present in a rudimentary form. 
These divisions in morphology and function are generally well 
defined, but sometimes graduate into each other. The hermaphro- 
dite form, which is the only one capable of self-fertilization, is now 
scarcely found ina wild state. Most of our cultivated varieties of 
P. Americana are transition forms of this and are somewhat dif- 
ficult to classify. Some of the horticultural varieties certainly be- 
long to the next, and a few are certainly heterostyled. Dichogam- 
ous varieties are more frequently met with in nature. 
The p roterogynous form iseasily distinguished by most of the pis- 
tils pr ojecting through and above the petals,which fora day or two 
remain incurved over the still immature stamens,thus mechanically 
preventing the ripening of the pollen, and fertilization, if accom- 
plished at all, has generally been effected before the petals expand. I 
