GEXUS i. 



APPLE FAMILY. 



287 



i. SORBUS [Tourn.] L. Sp. PL 477. 1753. 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate pinnate leaves, serrate leaflets, deciduous stipules, and 

 perfect regular white flowers, in terminal compound cymes. Calyx-tube urn-shaped, 5-lobed 

 not bracteolate. Petals 5, spreading, short-clawed. Stamens *>. Ovary inferior; styles usu- 

 ally 3, distinct ; stigma truncate ; ovules 2 in each cavity. Fruit a small red berry-like pome, 

 its carpels not cartilaginous. [The ancient Latin name of the pear or service-tree.] 



A genus of about 10 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following 2 

 others occur in western North America. Type species: Sorbus domestica L. 



1. S. americana. 



2. S. scopulina. 



Leaflets long-acuminate : fruit 2" -3" in diameter. 



Leaflets obtuse or short-pointed ; fruit about 4" in diameter. 



i. Sorbus americana Marsh. American 

 Mountain Ash. Dogberry. Fig. 2318. 



Sorbus americana Marsh. Arb. Am. 145. 1785. 

 Sorbus microcarpa Pursh. Fl. Am. Sept. 341. 1814. 

 Pyriis americana DC. Prodr. 2 : 637. 1825. 



A small tree, with smooth bark, reaching a maxi- 

 mum height of 30 and a trunk diameter of 18'. 

 Leaf-buds acute; leaves petioled; leaflets 11-17, lan- 

 ceolate, long-acuminate, glabrous on both sides or 

 slightly pubescent when young, bright green above, 

 generally paler beneath, 12-4' long, sharply serrate 

 with mucronate teeth; cymes densely compound, 

 3' -6' broad ; flowers 2"-$" broad ; fruit globose, 

 bright red, 2 "-3" in diameter. 



In low woods or moist ground, Newfoundland to Mani- 

 toba, south, especially along the mountains, to North 

 Carolina and to Michigan. Wood soft, light brown ; 

 weight per cubic foot 34 Ibs. American rowan- or service- 

 tree. \\ 'itch- or round-wood. Round- or wine-tree. Elder- 

 leaved mountain-ash or -sumach. Moose-missy. Missey- 

 moosey. Indian-mozamize. Life-of-man. A closely re- 

 lated form occurs in Japan. May-June. 



2. Sorbus scopulina Greene. Western Mountain Ash. Fig. 2319. 



S. scopulina Greene, Pittonia 4: 130. 1900. 

 $". subvestifa Greene, loc. cit. 1900. 



A small tree or often a shrub, closely resembling 

 the preceding species. Leaf-buds acute; leaflets 

 7~ I 5> proportionately broader and shorter, oval or 

 ovate-lanceolate, obtuse or short-pointed at the apex, 

 sharply serrate, glabrous and dark green above, pale 

 and usually more or less pubescent beneath, especi- 

 ally along the veins, seldom over 3' long; flowers 

 3"-5" broad; calyx and pedicels generally pubes- 

 cent; cymes 2'-4' broad; fruit globose, red, about 

 4" in diameter. 



In moist ground, Labrador to Alaska, south to Maine, 

 Pennsylvania, Michigan, and in the Rocky Mountains to 

 Colorado and Utah. Wood similar to that of the pre- 

 ceding ; weight per cubic foot 37 Ibs. United, in our 

 first edition, as by other authors, with S. sambucifolia 

 (C. & S.) Roem., of eastern Asia, which proves to be 

 distinct ; it has also been referred to the northwestern 

 Sorbus sitchensis Roem. American rowan-tree. June 

 July. 



Sorbus Aucuparia L., the European mountain ash, 

 rowan tree or quick-beam, has the leaves pubescent on 

 both sides, especially when young, the calyx and pedicels 

 usually woolly. Often planted : locally escaped from cul- 

 tivation. 



2. PYRUS [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 479. 1753. . 



Trees, or some species shrubs, with simple leaves. Flowers large, showy, white or pink, 

 in simple terminal cymes. Calyx urn-shaped, 5-lobed, the lobes acute. Hypanthium nearly 

 closed by a disc-like cushion. Petals 5, rounded, short-clawed. Stamens usually- numerous; 

 styles mostly 5, distinct, or united only at the very base; ovules 2 in each cavity; carpels 

 cartilaginous or leathery. Fruit a pome, usually pear-shaped, its flesh abounding in grit-cells. 

 [Latin name of the pear.] 



About 12 species, natives of the Old World, the following typical. 



