PRUNUS 



1451 



slender stems. On sand)' and rocky 

 inland shores from Maine to the 

 District of Columbia and Winne- 

 peg. — The fruit is small and usually 

 scarcely edible, the flesh being 

 astringent. The species is com- 

 mon on dunes of the Great Lakes. 

 It is in cult, as an ornamental plant, 

 for which it is worthy, although it 

 is much attacked by the twig blight 

 (caused by the fungus Monilia). 



Var. cune^ta {P. cunedta, Raf. ). Pig. 1990. More 

 erect from the base: Ivs. thin, oval, short-obovate or 

 spatiilate, strongly toothed: fls. larger. Bogs and cool 

 woods in the northern states. Not in the trade, so far 

 as known. 



Var. B6sseyi, Waugh (P. Bisseiji, Bailey). Western 

 Sand Cherry. Figs. 1991, 1992. Known from P. p?t/wj7« 

 by its more prostrate habit, Ivs. spreading (more erect 

 in P. pumila), broad and thick, usually elliptic, elliptic- 

 oval, or elliptic-lanceolate: stipules on strong shoots, 

 large and green, serrate: fr. nearly or quite twice 

 larger, on short stalks, usually sweet or at least edible. 

 — This is the Sand Cherry of the Plains and the West, 

 ranging from Kansas to Manitoba and west to Utah and 

 Colorado. The original of the Improved Rocky Moun- 

 tain Cherry, a plant grown for its large sweet fruit. In 

 its extreme form this plant looks to be distinct, but it 

 seems to intergrade imperceptibly into P. pumila. 



17. TJtah^nsis, Dieck. Utah Hybrid Cherry. Ap- 

 parently a hybrid of P. Watsoni and P. pumila, var. 

 Besseyi. A small, tree-like bush: Ivs. lance-elliptic to 

 oblong-ovate, short-pointed or nearly blunt, finely ser- 

 rate, slightly conduplicate, glossy above and much re- 

 ticulated beneath : fr. cherrv-like, somewhat larger 

 than that of Besseyi (about % or ?4 in. in diam.), of 

 deep mahogany color, with a thin plum-like bloom, a 

 thin flesh and a relatively large cherry-like stone.— Ap- 

 pears to have been raised about 40 years ago from seed 

 of P. pumila, var. Besseyi {P. Watsoni 

 grew near) by J. E. Johnson, in Nebraska. 

 Mr. Johnson subsequently moved to Utah, 

 whence the fruit was distributed. It has 

 little value as a fruit-plant, but it is an at- 

 tractive ornamental subject, both in flower 

 and fruit. 



18. fruticdsa, Pall. (P. Chnmiecirasus, 

 Jacq. P. pumila, Hort. Ch-asits Sibirica, 

 Hort. ) . Dwarf Cherry, or Ground Cherry 

 of Europe. Spreading bush, 2-4 ft. high, 

 with slender glabrous branchlets : Ivs. vary- 

 ing from obovate to oblanceolate and lance- 

 olate, the apex acuminate or sometimes al- 

 most obtuse, closely serrulate, thickish, 

 shining above, the petiole short: fls. white, 

 in nearly or quite sessile umbels: fr. small, 

 globular, purple-red, very sour. Highlands and mts. ot 

 Germany, Austria-Hungary and southern Russia. 



Var. p6ndula, Hort. {Pr mi us, and Cerasns, JapSnica 

 pendula, Hort.), is a most ornamental form with droop- 

 ing branches, excellent for top - working on standard 

 stocks (Fig. 1993). This is sometimes confounded with 

 P. semverfloren.i, but is distinguished at once by its 



1987. 

 Wild Goose— Prunus hortulana. 



(X >:,.) 

 See No. 15. 



foliage, its early blooming, its fls. in clusters, and its 

 dwarf habit. This is the form of P. fridicosa that is 

 chiefly known in this country. A similar pendulous 

 form, but with larger and more crenate-serrate Ivs., is 

 known as P. reflexa, Hort.; perhaps a hybrid of P. 

 fruticosa and P. semperflorens. Var. variegita, Hort., 

 has Ivs. marked with yellowish white. 



aa. Plant a tree or tree-like. 



B. Trees grown only for ornament or for stocks {not 



pomological species). 



C. Flower-clusters simple, sessile or very nearly so. 

 d. Lvs. tomentose beneath. 



19. tomentdsa, Thunb. Small tree, or sometimes a 

 tree-like bush, the young growths pubescent-tomen- 

 tose: branches close-jointed, causing the lvs. and fls. to 

 be numerous: lvs. broad-oval to short-obovate, short- 

 stalked, abruptly contracted into a short point, the 

 margins incisely and sometimes unequally serrate, dull 

 and rugose above, densely pubescent -tomentose be- 

 neath: fls. small, sessile, usually 1 or 2 at a joint, pink- 

 ish, appearing just before the lvs. : fr. light red, globu- 

 lar, the size of a very small cherry, sessile or very 

 short-stalked, sparsely hair}', said to be eaten in Japan 

 but too small to be of much importance for food. N. 

 China and Manchuria. A.G. 12:77. G.F. 5:581.-A 

 very worthy hardy small tree, making a very dense top, 

 and quite unlike most other Cherries in appearance. 



1988. Prunus hortulana. var. Waylandi (X 34). No. 15 



dd. Lvs. glabrous or nearly so. 

 E. Shape of lvs. roundish,— nearly as broad as long: 

 fl. -clusters on the ends of the branchlets. 

 20. MaMleb, Linn. Mahaleb Cherry. St. Lucie 

 Cherry. Small, slender tree with hard glabrous branch- 

 lets : lvs. light green, round-ovate to orbicular, abruptly 

 very short-pointed, often suboordate at base, the mar 



