CHOKE CHERRY (Prunus Virginiana, Linn.). Shrub to 

 35 feet. Bush or tree with crooked, short trunk, often leaning, 

 and short, brown branches. Bark thin, scaly, dark brown, 

 broken into irregular plates, strong-scented, often marked by 

 pale excrescences. Wood heavy, close-grained, hard, but not 

 strong. Worthless. Leaves oval, abruptly pointed at tip, 

 tapering at base, finely serrate on plain margin, 2 to 5 inches 

 long, bronze-green at first, becoming leathery, lustrous, dark 

 green, paler beneath. Flowers in erect, finally drooping, ra- 

 cemes, 3 to 6 inches long, small, cup-shaped, white, with parts 

 distinct; calyx persistent. Fruit ripening from June till 

 October, in drooping racemes, of dark purplish, soft, with 

 pleasant, winy flavor, but puckery until dead ripe. Skin 

 thick, shining. Pit ovate, ridged and grooved. Dist.: Low 

 valley s and mountain slopes, British Columbia, throughout 

 mountainous regions of North America; as a shrub, from New 

 England to Georgia, and westward to the prairie states. 



