CANADA PLUM; RED PLUM (Prunus nigra, Ait.). 20 to 

 30 feet. Narrow-headed tree with stiff, erect branches, ending 

 in zigzag twigs, with stiff, thorny side shoots. Bark pale, 

 gray-brown, breaking and curling back into papery plates, 

 exposing inner bark. Wood dark red-brown, heavy, hard, 

 close-grained, with pale sap wood. Leaves obovate, or ob- 

 long-ovate, suddenly pointed at the tip, narrowing to base, 

 finely serrate, 3 to 5 inches long, thick, firm, dull, dark green 

 above, pale beneath, with prominent, pale midribs beneath. 

 Flowers white, in early spring, in few-flowered umbels, large, 

 with distinct parts, the calyx red on outside, and petals fading 

 to pink. Fruit in August, oblong, 1 inch or more in length, 

 with thick, tough, orange-red skin, sour flesh, and an oval, 

 flat pit, 1 inch long. Dist. : Rich, moist soil, Newfoundland 

 to valleys of the St. Lawrence and Assiniboine rivers; south 

 to southeastern Minnesota. 



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