sturtevant's notes on edible plants 459 



p. cerasifera Ehrh. cherry plum. 



Turkey and nearby countries. The fruit is round, about an inch in diameter, of a 

 lively red, with little bloom. The flesh is greenish, melting, soft, very juicy, with a pleas- 

 ant, lively subacid flavor.' 



P. cerasus Linn, cherry, pie cherry, sour cherry. 



Europe and Orient. More than 50 varieties of this cherry are under cultivation. 

 About Lake Como, Italy, a variety grows abundantly which is a sort of Morello.^ In 

 Asia Minor, Walsh ' describes two delicious varieties as growing wild and cultivated in 

 gardens. This cherry is mentioned by Theophrastus,^ about 300 B. C, and Pliny * 

 states that it was brought to Italy by Lucullus after his victory over Mithridates, and he 

 also states that, in less than 120 years after, other lands had cherries even as far as Britain 

 beyond the ocean. Disraeli ' remarks that " to our shame it must be told that these 

 cherries from the King of Pontus' city of Cerasuntis are not the cherries we are now eating; 

 for the whole race of cherry-trees was lost in the Saxon period and was only restored by 

 the gardener of Henry VIII who brought them from Flanders." Loudon ' says the Romans 

 had 8 kinds and, in England in 1640, there were 24 sorts. The Red Kentish, referred 

 to this class, was the cherry grown by the Massachusetts colonists. 



P. chamaecerasus Jacq. 



Southern Europe and northern Asia. This cherry is mentioned by Pliny * as growing 

 in Macedonia and the fruit is said to be dried and to yield profit to the farm. According 

 to Jacquin,' this cherry grows on the Austrian Alps; according to Persoon,'" it is cultivated. 



P. chicasa Michx. chickasaw plum. Indian cherry, mountain cherry. 



Southeastern United States. This plum was seen by De Soto's " expedition at or 

 near New Madrid, where it furnished the natives with food. The tree usually grows 

 from 12 to 20 feet high but Marcy,'* on the Red River of the South, found it forming small 

 bushes from two to six feet high and bearing very large and sweet fruit varying in color 

 from a light pink to a deep crimson. The fruit varies much and several varieties are in 

 cultivation. 



P. cocomilia Tenore. cocomilla plum. 



Italy. The fruit is yellow, bitter or sour." 



' Downing, A. J. Ft. Fr. Trees Amer. 375. 1857. 



' Thompson, R. Treas. Bot. i:2$2. 1870. {Cerasus) 



' Walsh, R. Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond.t:^^. 1826. 



* Theophrastus Hist. PI. 3, 13. 



' Thompson, R. Treas. Bot. i:2$2. 1870. (Cerasus) 



' Disraeli Curios Lit. 2:330. 1858. 



'Loudon, J. C. Hort. S53- i860. 



Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 398. 1879. {Cerasus chamaecerasus) 



Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



" Bancroft, G. Hist. U. S. 1:53. 1839. 



" Marcy, R. B. Explor. Red River 20. 1854. 



"Don, G. Hist. Dichl. Pis. 2:498. 1832. 



