1548 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Distribution 



The typical form of P. serotina is widely distributed in North America, 

 occurring in Canada from Nova Scotia westwards to the northern shores of Lake 

 Superior; and in the United States southwards to Florida, and westwards to Dakota, 

 eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory, and eastern Texas. Further west in 

 southern Arizona and New Mexico, it is replaced by P. Capuli. Sargent states 

 that it was once very abundant in the Alleghany Mountains, reaching its largest 

 size from West Virginia to Georgia and Alabama. In the United States it usually 

 grows in rich moist soil, but sometimes occurs on low sandy soil and on rocky cliffs 

 by the sea-shore in New England. Pinchot x states that it grows fairly well in dry 

 situations ; but it is only in moist well-drained rich soils of mild climates that the 

 maximum development is reached, as in the southern Alleghanies, where trees 90 ft. 

 high and 4 ft. in diameter are not uncommon. In plantations in America it grows 

 rapidly in youth ; but is looked upon as a short-lived tree. Owing to the great 

 value of its timber it has now become scarce in all accessible regions, and large trees 

 are hardly to be found, the largest of which I have any record being a tree measured 

 by Dr. Schneck in Wabash Co., Illinois, which was 135 ft. high by \o\ ft. in girth. 2 



I saw no such trees, however, in the Wabash valley ; and in Canada in 1904, 

 near Ottawa, where I found it scattered in the forest, it is a comparatively small tree. 

 In southern Ontario, however, there are still, according to Macoun, many fine 

 trees standing which are largely used for furniture making. 



In Massachusetts, Emerson says 3 that it rarely exceeds 40 to 50 ft. in height ; 

 but on the Ohio river, Michaux measured trees from 80 to 100 ft. high, with trunks 

 12 to 16 ft. in girth and clear of branches to 25 or 30 ft. He recommended its 

 culture in the Rhine valley, which, he says, has most resemblance to its native 

 regions. 



Cultivation 



It is difficult to say when this species was introduced, as it was formerly confused 

 with P. virginiana, which Loudon says was introduced in 1724. It has never become 

 a common tree, and was hardly known to nurserymen until recently, when it has been 

 planted largely as a forest tree in some places in Europe. 



The only place where I have seen this tree fairly at home in England is in 

 Sherwood Forest, where several trees have been planted on Lord Manvers' property. 

 The first of these I found quite unexpectedly myself, and recognised it by its shining 

 foliage ; the others were pointed out to me by Mr. Foljambe, who said he had known 

 them as American cherries for many years, though I could obtain no information as 

 to how or when they were introduced. One of these trees was about 50 ft. by 

 4^ ft., and bore a few ripe fruits in October 1905, from which I raised a plant the 



1 U.S. Forest Circular, No. 94 (1907). 2 Ridgway, in Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xvii. 411 (1894). 



* Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts, ii. 516 (1875). 



