1450 



PRUNUS 



PRUNUS 



globose fr. ; P. glanduldsa, Torr. & Gray, Tex., a low 

 bush with very crooked and pubescent branches, very 

 small, oval-obtuse Ivs., and a small velvety fruit. 



ccc. Lvs. mostly narrow and peach-like, firm and 

 more or less shining, glabrous, the young 

 growths not pubescent : fr. thin-skinned. 



14. angustifdlia, Marsh. (P. Chicdsa, Michaux ?). 

 CHICKASAW PLUM. MOUNTAIN CHEERY. Fig. 1985. 

 Plate XXX. Small, bushy -topped twiggy tree, with 

 slender zigzag reddish branches: Ivs. lanceolate or ob- 

 long-lanceolate and conduplicate (trough-like), shining, 

 finely and closely serrate: fr. small and early, cherry- 

 like, slender-stemmed, red or yellow and yellow-dotted, 

 shining, thinly glaucous, the flesh soft and juicy and 

 clinging to the small, rough stone. Del., south and 

 west, being abundant in the sandy thickets. S.S. 

 4:152. This species has given rise to several worthy 

 pomological varieties, as Newman and Lone Star. It is 

 not hardy in New York. It sometimes reaches a height 

 of 20-25 ft., but it is often a small, bushy tree. It is 

 supposed that Michaux had this plant in mind when he 

 made the name P. Chicasa. The specimens in his her- 

 barium (in Paris) are P. hortulana, however; but they 

 are marked with an interrogation point, as if he were 

 not sure of them, and they may not represent his idea 

 of the species. 



Var. Watsoni, Waugh (P. Wdtsoni, Sarg.). SAND 

 PLUM. Fig. 1986. Bush, 3-6 ft. high, with more zigzag 

 twigs than in P. angustifolia, more spiny, the Ivs. and 



See No. 13. 



fls. smaller, the fr. with thicker skin. Dry regions of 

 Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, and planted by the 

 settlers, who prize it for its fruit. G.F. 7:135. 



15. hortulana, Bailey. WILD GOOSE PLUM. Fig. 1987. 

 Mostly taller tree than P. angustifolia, with straighter 

 twigs, not thorny : Ivs. plane or flat, closely and ob- 

 tusely-glandular serrate: fr. globular, glossy and thinly 

 glaucous, lemon yellow to red, juicy, the thin flesh 

 clinging to the small rough stone. S.S. 4:151. A 

 group of hybrids of P. Americana and P. angusti- 

 folia, but occurring in the wild from Maryland and 

 Virginia to Texas. In orchards it is represented by 

 many varieties, of which the Wild Goose is the best 

 known. One branch of the species-group, var. Mineri, 

 Bailey, is near to P. Americana, and represents the 

 northward extension of the group: it is known by its 

 thicker and duller Ivs. which are very veiny below and 

 coarsely toothed and somewhat obovate in outline, and 

 by a late firm fruit. To this form belong the Miner, 

 Langsdon, Clinton, Forest Rose. Another branch of the 



hortulana group, var. Waylandi (Fig. 1988), is char- 

 acterized by strong growth, straight dark-colored twigs,, 

 broad, heavy, coarsely toothed shining Ivs. with 2-6= 

 glands on the petioles, late blossoming, and thin-skinned 

 fr. of good flavor. This form is common in the middle- 

 South and Texas. It is represented in cultivation by 

 many excellent varieties, as Wayland, Golden Beauty, 

 Moreman, Reed, Garfield, Cumberland and others. This 



1985. Leaf of Prunus augustifolia. Natural size. 



is apparently the "Prunus spec. Texas" described and 

 figured by Dippel in Laubholzkunde, 3, p. 626. Waugh 

 has suggested that P. rivularis, Scheele, is this Way- 

 land type of Plums. Two sheets of Lindheimer's speci- 

 mens, duplicates of those on which Scheele founded 

 the species, are in the Gray Herbarium. They repre- 

 sent a small, crabbed-growing bush with small con- 

 duplicate Ivs. that are hairy beneath, and very small 

 slender-stalked fls. just preceding the Ivs. It is very 

 doubtful if they can be held to represent the Wayland 

 Plums. They are rather to be compared with P. ortho- 

 sepala, Koehne. 



Prunus orthosepala, Koehne, from southern Texas 

 (G. F. 7, p. 184, Fig. 34) is, according to Sargent, "rather 

 closely related to Prunus hortulana, from which it can 

 be distinguished by the smaller number of glands on 

 the petioles, by the eglandular calyx-lobes, the dark- 

 colored fruit and smoother stone." It is a twiggy shrub 

 growing 4 or 5 ft. high. Lvs. oblong-ovate, acuminate, 

 coarsely serrate, shining above, pilose beneath: fls. 

 white or tinged pink, appearing with the opening of the 

 leaf -buds: fr. globose, 1 in. in diam., dark blue or nearly 

 black, glaucous, the flesh yellow and of good quality. 

 This plant must be further studied before its botanical 

 position can be determined. Possibly it is a geographi- 

 cal form of the Sand Plum or the Hortulana group, al- 

 though the hairiness of the Ivs. beneath distinguish it. 

 Not in the trade. 



SUBGENUS II. CERASUS. Cherries. 



Fruit globular or oblong, not sulcate, glabrous and' 

 usually not glaucous, the stone turgid (usually nearly 

 globular), and rarely conspicuously longer than broad 

 and smooth: fls. in umbel-like fascicles (mostly solitary 

 in P. tomentosa ) , mostly 

 with or immediately pre- 

 ceding the leaves. 



A. Plant dwarf, usually 

 only a bush, with 

 no central trunk. 



16. pumila, Linn. SAND 

 CHERRY. DWARF 

 CHERRY. Fig. 1989. De- 

 cumbent at the base when 

 old, but the young growth 

 strictly erect and often 

 reaching 5-8 ft. in height, 

 the slender, twiggy 

 growth reddish and gla- 

 brous : Ivs. narrowly ob- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, 

 short-pointed or nearly 

 obtuse, the margins 

 above very closely ser- 

 rate, dull green above 

 and whitish green be- 

 neath: fls. small, in 2-5- 

 fld. umbels, the pedicels 

 slender: fr. nearly glob- 



1986. Prunus angustifolia, var. 



ular, purple - black, on Watsoni. The Sand Plum (X%). 



