Prunus. ROSACE.E. 167 



§ 1. Fruit ohlo)ig, fleahi/, glabrous: the stone flattish, smooth, usually acutely mar- 

 qined, or grooved on one edge: flowers white, few to several in umbel-like clusters 

 from lateral scaly buds in early spring. — PliUNUS. 



1. P. subcordata, J>cntli. (Wild Plum.) A scraggy nmch-branclied shrub, 



3 to 10 feet higli, witli asli-gray bark, the braiichlets occasionally spinescent: young 

 branches and loaves finely pubescent, becoming glabrous : leaves ovate, cordate to 

 cuneate at base, obtuse or acute, sliarjily and iinely serrulate, about an inch long, 

 shortly petioled ; glands at the base of the blade 1 to 4, or wanting: umbels 2-4- 

 llowenid ; pedicels 3 to lines long: calyx puberulent: corolla half an inch broad: 

 fruit red, largo and edible, about ^ inch long : stone acutely edged on one side, 

 grooved upon the other. — V\. Ilartw. .308. 



On dry rocky hills .ind in opon woods, mostly eastward of the central valley from San Feliiie 

 to Oregon ; most at)undant in tlie northern part of the State, wliere also tlie fruit is larger and 

 more pulpy. It is })lcasantly acid and is gathered in considerable quantities by both Indians and 

 whites. Flowering in April or May, the I'ruit is ripe in August and September. 



§ 2. Smaller fruit and stone ovoid or subglobose, the latter marginless: floivers corym- 

 bose, or umbellate: otherwise as § 1. — Ceuasus. 



2. P. emarginata, Walpers. A shrub 4 to 8 feet high, with bark like that of 

 the ordinary Clierry-tree, and chestnut-brown very slender branches, glabrous or 

 nearly so : leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, mostly obtuse, crenatcly serrulate, 

 1 to 3 inches long, narrowed to a short petiole, with nsually one or more glands 

 near the base of the blade: corymb 6- 12-llowered, shorter than the leaves: flowers' 



4 to 6 lines broad : fruit globose, black, about 4 lines long, bitter and astringent : 

 stone with a thick grooved ridge upon one side. — - Cerasus emarginata, Dougl. ; 

 Jlook. Fl. i. 100. C. glandnlosHs, Kellogg, J'roc. (.^alif. Acad. i. 5!)". 



Var. mollis, Brewer. Taller, becoming a small tree 25 feet high : more or less 

 woolly-pubescent, especially on the under side of the leaves. — Cerasus mollis, 

 Dougl. 1. c. ; N'utt. Sylva, ii. 14, t. 46. P. mollis, Walpers. 



Mostly in open forests, in the Sierra Nevada, from Yosemite Valley northward to Pu^et Sound : 

 also more rarely near the coast ; Oakland Hills and Tamalpais, Bolandcr. The variety is the 

 more common Oregon form. 



§3. Fruit small, globose, fleshy, glabrous: stone broadly ovoid, marginless : floiver^ 

 white in terminal racemes, aj^pearijig after the leaves. — Paous. 



3. P. demissa, Walpers. (Wild Cnr.nnY.) An erect slender shrub 2 to 12 

 feet high : leaves ovate or oblong-obovate, usually broadest above the middle, ab- 

 ruptly acuminate, mostly rounded or somewhat cordate at base, sharjdy serrate with 

 straight slender teeth, usually juoro or less pubescent beneath, 2 to 4 inches long, 

 with 1 or 2 glands at base : racemes 3 or 4 inches long, many-flowered : fruit glo- 

 bose, purplish-black, or red, sweet and edildo but somewhat astringent : stone 

 globose. — Cerasus demissa, Nutt. ; Torr. c^ Oray, Fl. i. 411 ; Watson, Bot. King 

 Exp. 80. /-*. Virginiana, var. demissa, Torrey, Bot. Wilkes, 284 ; Gray, Proc. Am. 

 Acad. viii. 381. 



In the mountains throughout the State from San Diego County {Parry, Palmer) to the 

 Columbia River, except near the const, and eastward to thi! Rocky ftlountains. It fruits abun- 

 dantly, often when only 2 or 3 feet high. It resembles the following species very closely. 



P. ViKGiNiANA, Linn. Leaves rarely at ail pubescent, more frequently somewhat cuneate at 

 base : fruit dark red, very astringent and scarcely edible ; the stone more ovoid and acutish : 

 otherwise like the last, but more diffuse in habit, and preferring stream banks and moist locali- 

 ties. — It is do\ibtful if this species, the eastern Choko Cherry, is found west of the Rocky Moim- 

 tains. A somewhiit sinuliir form, distinct from the Inst, with conspicimus linear stinules anil 

 bracts in the early stage, is foniiil in the West ilunilmhlt Mts., Nevada ( //'(r./.wx), and is to Ih) 

 look(Ml f<ir in the nortlieastern jiart of the State. 



P. RKiioTiNA, Khrhlut, the Wild Black Clierry of the Atlantic States, has been introduced 

 about San Francisco. It becomes a tree, 'and may be <listinguislied by its more acuminate leaves 

 and short incurved callous-pointed teeth, only the midvein of the leaf sometimes pubescent. 



