BIRD CHERRIES 227 



of the world. The chief historic representative of this 

 class is the Padus or bird cherry (Primus Padus) of 

 the Old World, of which our choke cherry (Prunus 

 Virginiana) is the occidental congener. There are 

 occasional forms of the Padus which bear fruit of 

 some merit, but they are wretchedly inferior to the 

 improved forms of the umbellate -flowered or garden 

 cherries. Now and then one finds a choke cherry 

 bush which bears more pulpy and more pleasant- 

 tasted fruit than is the wont of the species, but even 

 these variations offer little temptation to the cultiva- 

 tor. The choke cherry is cultivated for ornament, 

 however. It is scarcely inferior for that purpose 

 to its Old World congener (Prunus Padus), although 

 its flowers are somewhat smaller than in that species, 

 and they are also a few days earlier. If grown as a 

 lawn tree where a symmetrical development cau be 

 secured, the choke cherry, both in bloom and in 

 fruit, is an attractive object. Although rarely more 

 than a large tree -like bush, the choke cherry is often 

 confounded with the wild black cherry, but it is 

 readily distinguished by the very sharp small teeth 

 pf the leaves. The fruit of the choke cherry is 

 commonly red, but amber -fruited plants are occasion- 

 ally found.* 



The choke cherry is undoubtedly capable of some 

 improvement under cultivation. Even in a wild state, 

 the fruit is capable of yielding acceptable jelly. t 

 Ameliorated varieties of the choke cherry are occa- 

 sionally described, but there is a suspicion that 



*Prunus Virginiana var. leucocarpa, Watson, Bot. Gnz. xiii. 233. 

 tSee, for example, P. A. Waugh, Garden and Forest, U. 388, and J. E. 

 Learned, 1. c. 408. 



