ROSACEAE 



Wild Bed Cherry. Pin Cherry 

 i 



Prunus pennsylvanica, L. f. 



HABIT. A slender tree, seldom over 30 feet high, with a 

 trunk diameter of 8-10 inches; crown rather open, narrow, 

 rounded, with slender, regular branches. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, Y^-^A inches 

 broad; oblong-lanceolate; finely and sharply serrate; bright green 

 and shining above, paler beneath; petioles slender, y 2 -\ inch 

 long, glandular near the blade. 



FLOWERS. May- June, with the leaves; perfect; about y* 

 inch across, borne on slender pedicels in 4-5-flowered umbels, 

 generally clustered, 2-3 together; calyx 5-cleft, campanulate; 

 petals 5, white, *4 ' lnc ^ long; stamens 15-20. 



FRUIT. July- August ; a globular drupe, *4 mc h in diam- 

 eter, light red, with thick skin and sour flesh. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud % inch long, broadly 

 ovoid, rather blunt, brownish, smooth. 



BARK. Twigs at first lustrous, red, marked by orange col- 

 ored lenticels, becoming brownish; red-brown and thin on the 

 trunk, peeling off horizontally into broad, papery plates; bitter, 

 aromatic. 



WOOD. Light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thin, 

 yellow sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Throughout the northern portion of the 

 state, extending southward to Ionia County. 



HABITAT. Abundant on sand-lands; roadsides; burned- 

 over lands; clearings; 'hillsides. 



NOTES. Rapid of growth. Short-lived. 

 159 



