Handbook of Trees of the Xortjieijx States axd Caxada. 418 



Tlie Black or Sweet Haw is a low husliy tree, 

 sonH'tiiiics attaining tlie lieigiit of 25 or 30 fL. 

 with trunk 8 or lU in. in diameter, and is 

 often sliriibby, especially in the nortliern part 

 of its range. It develops a wide rounded top 

 of many rigiil branches and frequent spur-like 

 branch lets, and its trunk is often crooked or 

 inclined. 



It inhabits mainly dry rocky hill-sides and 

 uplands, frequently along fence rows and road- 

 sides, where its seeds have been dropped by 

 the l)irds. Rarer to the westward it is espe- 

 cially common in the vicinity of the coast. 

 Like the other arborescent representatives of 

 the genus, its glossy leaves and numerous 

 clusters of white flowers and ornamental fruit 

 have made this tree popular for ornamental 

 planting, in parks and private grounds both 

 in this country and in Europe. 



The fruit is very sweet and occasionally 

 eaten by children, but is of no practical im- 

 portance. 



Its close-grained hard wood is unimportant 



commercially, but the bark is used in medicine, 



as it possesses neurotic, antispasmodic, tonic 



and diuretic properties. 



Leaves oval to ovate or occasionally obovate. 

 l-.i in. long, obtuse or rounded at base and obtuse 

 or acutish at apex, finely serrate, at maturity 

 firm, coriaceous, shining dark green above, paler 

 and glabrous beneath : petioles about V^ in. long, 

 grooved and nearly terete or on vigorous shoots 

 slightly margined. " Floirrrs white. % in. wide, in 

 severai-rayed cymes 2-4 in. across. Fruit, ripe in 

 October, oval "or subglobose, glaucous, blue-black 

 in red-stemmed few-fruited clusters ; stone flat or 

 slightly convex one side, blackish.* 



1. For genus see p. 457. 



