Vol.. II.] 



PLUM FAMILY. 



247 



i. Prunus Americana Marsh. Wild 

 Yellow or Red Plum. (Fig. 2007.) 



Prunus Americana Marsh.iArb. Am. in. 1785- 



A shrub or small tree, maximum height about 

 35, and trunk diameter about 12'; branches more 

 or less thorny; bark thick. Leaves ovate or ob- 

 ovate, acuminate, nearly or quite glabrous when 

 mature, usually pubescent when young, sharply 

 and often doubly serrate, rounded at the base, 

 slender-petioled; petioles usually glandless; flow- 

 ers white, 8 // -i2 // broad, appearing in lateral ses- 

 sile umbels before the leaves; pedicels $"-<)" long; 

 calyx-lobes pubescent within, entire; drupe glo- 

 bose, red or yellow, 9"-! 2" in greatest diameter, 

 the skin tough, bloom little or none, the stone 

 somewhat flattened, its ventral edge acute or mar- 

 gined, the dorsal faintly grooved. 



New York to Montana, Florida and Colorado. A 

 southwestern form has very pubescent leaves. April- 

 May. Fruit ripe Aug.-Oct. 



2. Prunus nigra Ait. Canada Plum. 

 Horse Plum. (Fig. 2008.) 



Prunus nigra Ait. Hort. Kew. a: 165. 1789. 

 Prunus mollis Torr. Fl. U. S. i: 470. 1824. 



A tree, 2O-3O high, the trunk sometimes ic/ 

 in diameter, the bark thin. Leaves oval, ovate or 

 obovate, long-acuminate, pubescent when young, 

 crenulate-serrate, narrowed, obtuse or subcordate 

 at the base, $'-$' long; petioles stout, j'-i' long, 

 bearing i or 2 red glands near the blade; flowers in 

 lateral umbels, expanding before the leaves, i'- 

 i%' broad; pedicels 6"-io" long, slender, gla- 

 brous; calyx-lobes glandular-serrate, glabrous 

 within, sometimes pubescent without; drupe oval, 

 I'-iJ/j' long, orange-red, thick-skinned, bloom lit- 

 tle or none, the flesh adherent to the oval com- 

 pressed stone, which is sharply ridged on the ven- 

 tral edge, somewhat grooved on the dorsal. 



Newfoundland to Manitoba, Massachusetts and 

 Wisconsin. Wood hard, reddish -brown; weight per 

 cubic foot 43 Ibs. May. Fruit Aug. 



3. Frunus hortulana Bailey. Wild Goose Plum. (Fig. 2009.) 



P. hortulana Bailey, Card. & For. $: 90. 1892. 

 A small tree, similar to the two preceding; 

 branches spreading, bark thin. Leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate to ovate, long-acuminate, 

 somewhat peach-like, closely glandular-ser- 

 rate, 4 / -6 / long; petioles not i' long, usually 

 bearing two glands near the blade; flowers in 

 lateral umbels, expanding before the leaves; 

 pedicels 5 // -io // long; calyx-lobes glandu- 

 lar-serrate, pubescent without and within; 

 drupe subglobose or short-oval, bright red, 

 thin-skinned, stone swollen, roughish, not 

 margined; bloom little or none. 



Illinois to Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas. 

 Perhaps a hybrid. April-May. 



Prunus hortulana Miner! Bailey, Bull. Cornell 



Agric. Exp. Sta. 38: 23. 1892. 

 Leaves dull, thick, irregularly coarsely serru- 

 late, conspicuously veiny beneath; stone nearly 

 smooth ; leaves varying to oblanceolate. Illinois 

 to Tennessee and Missouri. 



