Wild Yellow Plum 



491 



petals are orbicular; the filaments and base of the pistil arc hairy. The fruit, 

 ripening in July or August, is oblong, 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long, dark purple with a 

 lighter bloom; the flesh is thin, sour, and astringent; the stone is ovoid, 8 to 10 

 mm. long, much flattened, somewhat wrinkled, pointed at both ends, with a 

 broad grooved ridge on one edge and a groove at the other. 



The fruit of the Hog plum, as its common name impHes, is not considered fit 

 for domestic use. This species has been regarded as a variety of the Black sloe 

 and described under the name Prunus umbellata injucunda Sargent. 



6. WILD YELLOW PLUM Prunus americana Marshall 



Also called Wild red plum, this low-branched, somewhat spiny tree of woods and 

 thickets from New York to Ohio, Montana, Florida, Texas and Colorado, attains 

 a maximum height of 1 1 meters, with a trunk diameter of 3 dm. 



The numerous branches are wide-spreading, often drooping, and frequently 

 armed with many spine-hke spurs; the bark is 

 about 15 mm. thick, breaking up into thin, 

 dark brown plates; the twigs are smooth or 

 hairy, light green, becoming brown and finally 

 reddish brown ; the winter buds are very small, 

 sharp-pointed and brown. The leaves are firm, 

 elliptic to oval or obovate, 4 to 10 cm. long, 

 taper-pointed, usually rounded at the base, 

 sharply toothed, sometimes doubly so, dark 

 green and rough with midrib impressed above, 

 paler and hairy, especially near the veins, be- 

 neath; the slender leaf-stalk is 1.5 to 2 cm. 

 long. The flowers appear in March at the 

 South to May at the North; they are white, 

 2.5 cm. across, in sessile 2- to 5-flowered um- 

 bels, on slender, smooth pedicels i to 2 cm. 

 long; the calyx- tube is obconic, smooth, usually 

 red on the outside, the lobes entire and sharp-pointed; the petals are obovate, 

 rounded, and irregularly eroded. The fruit, ripening from June to October, is 

 subglobose or globose-oblong, 1.8 to 2.5 cm. long, orange to bright red, usually 

 without bloom; the skin is thick and tough, the flesh yellow, juicy and acidulous; 

 the stone is oval, flattened, shghtly wrinkled, pointed at the top, narrowed at the 

 base, flattened on one edge and grooved at the other. 



The fruit is largely gathered from wild growing trees and used for preser%'es 

 and jellies. It has also been cultivated for a long time and many selected varieties 

 are now known to orchardists. As an ornamental tree it is much admired for its 

 profusion of flowers, its fine form, and foliage. The wood is hard, strong, close- 

 grained, reddish brown and lustrous; its specific gravity is about 0.73. 



Fig. 449. Wild Yellow Plum. 



