324 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



section as eastward, where it is one of the first trees to come 

 in on old timber lands. 



Properties of wood. Light, soft, close grained, light brown in 

 color, with thin yellow sapwood. Specific gravity 0.5023; a 

 cubic foot weighs 31.30 pounds. 



Uses. The Wild Red Cherry is very hardy, grows rapidly 

 under cultivation, and is well adapted to prairie planting. It 

 is shapely and handsome, although a short lived tree. In the 

 early spring it is conspicuous by reason of its great quantity 

 of white flowers. It might be used for shade in timber plant- 

 ings and for bird food. The fruit is used for domestic pur- 

 poses and in the preparation of cough mixtures. Seedlings 

 have been used to a limited extent as a stock for the cultivated 

 cherries. 



Prunus serotina. Black Cherry. Wild Black Cherry. 

 Rum Cherry. 



Leaves oval oblong, or lanceolate-oblong taper-pointed, ser- 

 rate, with two to four reddish glands on petiole. Flowers ap- 

 pear in June after the leaves are full grown, in long pendulous 

 white racemes. Fruit somewhat larger than a pea, purplish 

 black when ripe, smooth, one-seeded, rarely two-seeded, ripens 

 in August or September in Minnesota. A large tree, sixty or 

 more feet high, but generally much smaller at the limit of its 

 range. 



Distribution. From Nova Scotia westward through the 

 Canadian Provinces and Northern States to Dakota, and south 

 to Texas and Florida. In Minnesota common throughout all 

 but the extreme northern part of the state, in woods along 

 shaded lake shores and banks. 



Propagation. The Black Cherry is grown from seeds which 

 are produced in great abundance. They should be sown \vlu-n 

 gathered in the autumn, or stratified over winter and sown in 

 i he spring. 



Properties of wood. Light, strong and rather hard, with a 

 close, straight grain and satiny surface susceptible of receiving a 

 beautiful polish. It is light brown or iv<l, with a thin layer of 

 yellow sapwood. but ^rows darker cm exposure to the air. Spe- 

 cific ,ura\ily o.sXjj; weight ,.| a cubic loot .}(>.jS pounds. 



