THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 29 



one and three-fourths inches long, slender, duU red, with from one to three small, 

 globose, reddish glands on the stalk; stipules small, lanceolate, finely serrate, early caducous. 



Buds rather small, of medium length, pointed, appressed or free, arranged singly 

 or in small, scaly clusters at the tips of branchlets or on short spurs; leaf -scars prominent; 

 blooming with or after the leaves; flowers white, one and one-quarter inches across; in 

 clusters of two or three; pedicels one inch long, slender, glabrous; calyx-tube green or with 

 a faint red tinge, brownish-yellow within, campanulate; calyx-lobes faintly tinged with 

 red, long, acute, margin serrate, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals oval, entire 

 or crenate, tapering to a short, blunt claw; stamens nearly one-half inch long, thirty-five 

 or thirty-six; anthers yellow; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens. 



Fruit ripening in early July; about an inch in diameter, cordate; cavity deep, wide, 

 abrupt; suture a Une; apex roundish or pointed; color ranging from yellow through red 

 to purplish-black; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem tinged with red, 

 one and one-half inches long, adherent to the fruit; skin toughish, adherent to the pulp; 

 flesh yellow, red, or dark purple with colorless or colored juice, tender to firm, sweet; stone 

 semi-clinging, three-eighths of an inch long, not as wide as long, elliptical, flattened, blunt, 

 with smooth surfaces. 



Through its cultivated varieties Primus avium is everywhere known in 

 temperate cHmates as the Sweet Cherry. In the wild state it is variously 

 called Mazzard, Bird, Wild, Crab and the Gean cherry. It is not as 

 hardy a species as Primus cerasus and is, therefore, less generally grown but 

 still is a favorite orchard, dooryard and roadside plant in all mid-temperate 

 regions. It refuses to grow, however, in the warmest and coldest parts 

 of the temperate zones. Wherever the species thrives as an orchard 

 plant it is to be found growing spontaneously along fences and roadsides 

 and in open woods from seeds distributed by birds. The fruits of these 

 wild Sweet Cherries are usually small and the flesh thin and dry, often 

 unpalatable; but, on the other hand, trees are sometimes found as escapes 

 from cultivation which rival in their products the orchard-grown cherries. 

 It is from reverted seedlings that the description of the species herewith 

 given has been made. The number of cultivated varieties of Prunus 

 avium listed in The Cherries of New York is 549. 



The habitat of the species and its history as a cultivated plant are 

 given in the following chapter. A further point of horticultural interest 

 as regards its habitat is that wherever found truly wild, as in its original 

 home in southern and central Etirope and Asia Minor, it is to be found 

 in moderately dry, calcareous soils and seldom in the shade, preferring 

 always warm, sunny sites, as gravelly or stony hillsides. These predi- 

 lections cling to the species in its cultivated varieties. Prunus avium 

 differs from Primus cerasus in an important horticultural character as 



