510 



The Evergreen Cherries 



are oblong to oblong- lanceolate, leather}^ 5 to 12 cm. long, pointed at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base, entire-margined, or rarely with a few sharp teeth, the upper 

 side dark green and shining, paler green and dull on the under side ; the leaf-stalks 

 are 5 to 8 mm. long. The iflower-clusters are shorter than the leaves; the flower- 

 stalks are club-shaped, 2 to 4 mm. long; the flowers open from February to April; 



Fig. 471. Wild Orange. 



the obconic calyx-tube is white, the lobes small, rounded, entire-margined, reflexed; 

 the petals are shorter than the calyx- lobes, erect, boat-shaped, about i mm. long; 

 the stamens are orange-yellow and much longer than the petals. The fruits are 

 oblong or oval, 10 to 13 mm. long, pointed, black and shining, the skin thick, the 

 flesh thin, the pit ovoid, slightly ridged on one side. 



The tree is much planted in the South for ornament and for hedges, and grows 

 rapidly. The hard and strong wood is brown, with a specific gravity of about 

 0.87. Other common names are Laurel cherry, Carolina cherry. Mock olive. 



2. WEST INDIAN CHERRY Laurocerasus myrtifolia (Linnceus) Britton 



Celastrus myrtifolius Linn^us. Primus spJuerocarpa Swartz 

 Laurocerasus sphcerocarpa Roemer 



Widely distributed in the West Indies and in South America, this small ever- 

 green tree occurs sparingly in southern Florida, where it grows to a height of about 

 12 meters, and forms a trunk sometimes 3 or 4 dm. thick. 



It has thin, nearly smooth reddish brown bark, and slender orange-brown, 

 smooth young twigs which soon turn gray; the buds are small and bluntish. The 

 leaves are leathery, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 5 to 10 cm. long, blunt or blunt- 



