148 



POPULAR FLORA. 



4. Wild Black Cherry. Shrub or large tree, with reddish-brown bark on the branches, oblong or 



lance-oblong leaves with short and blunt teeth, and purplish-black, vinous fruit, ripe in autumn. 



P. serotlna. 

 Plum. Pinmus. 



All are cultivated, except the Beach Plum ; but No. 2 is also wild; so is No. 3 in the Southwest. 



1. Common Plusi [P. dumistka), with all its varieties, probably came from the Blllace Plum (P. 



insitttia), and that perhaps from the thorny Sloe {P. ^jnridsa). 



2. Wild (Red and Yellow) Plum : well known for its very juicy pulp in a (red or partly yellow) 



tough skin; leaves coarsely serrate. P. Americana. 



3. Chickasaw Plum : with lance-shaped finely serrate leaves, and small red, thin-skinned, cherry- 



like fruit. S. p. Chicasa. 



4. Beach Plum. A low bush on the sea-coast, with the leaves downy beneath, and a small purple 



or crimson fruit. p. maritima. 



Meadow-Sweet. Spircea. 



Calyx 5-cleft. Petals 5, broad or roundish. Pistils commonly 5, making little pods (follicles) with 



2 or few seeds in each. Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 6 are wild species, but also cult, in gardens and grounds. 



* Shrubs, with white flowers, except No. 2. 



1. Common Meadow-Sweet. Smooth, 2° or 8° high ; leaves oblong or lance-oblong and wedge- 



shaped ; flowers in a crowded panicle, sometimes pale flesh-color. Wet grounds. S. saUdfolia, 



2. Downy 51., or Hardhack. Leaves coated with wool beneath; flowers rose-color. S. tomentbsa. 



3. Italian M., or Maywreath. Smooth ; stems 3° or 4° long, recurved; leaves small, spatulate, 



entire ; flowers small, in umbels on short leafy shoots. Cult. ; fl. in spring. S. hypericifblia. 



4. NiNEBARK ]\I. Smoothish, 4° to 10° high; branches recurving; leaves rounded, 3-lobed ; flowers 



in umbels, in spring; pods 3 to 5, bladdery, turning purplish. Old bark of stems peeling off" in 

 thin layers. Eocky banks, N. & W., and cultivated. S. opulifolia. 



5. SoRB-LEAVED M. Smooth, 3° to 6° high; leaves pinnate; leaflets oblong-lance-shaped, pointed, cut- 



toothed; flowers in a large panicle, in spring. Cultivated. S. sorlnfblia. 



* * Herbs, with perennial roots, and interruptedly pinnate leaves, and flowers in a crowded compound 

 cyme, on a long naked stalk. All but No. 6 are foreign species. 



6. Queen-of-the-Prairie M. Smooth; leaflets 3 to 7 and some little ones; end-leaflet very large, 



parted and cleft; flowers peach-blossom-color, in summer. W. and cult. S.hhala. 



7. English M. Leaves smaller than in the last, white-downy beneath ; flowers white. S. Ulmaria. 



8. Dropwc>rt 5L Smooth; leaflets 9 to 21, besides the minute ones, linear-oblong, much cut; cymes 



of a few slender branches; flowers white, single or double. S. fiUpmdula. 



Indian-Physic. Gillenia. 



Calyx narrow or club-shaped, 5-toothed. Petals 5, lance-shaped, rather unequal, white or pale rose. 

 Stamens 10 to 20, short. Pistils and little pods 5. — Herbs, with perennial roots, and leaves of three 

 cut-toothed thin leaflets. Flowers in a loose corymb or panicle, in summer. 



1. Common Indian-Physic (or Bowman's Root). Leaflets oblong; stipules small and entire. W. 



and cultivated in gardens. G. trifoUata. 



2. Western I. (or American Ipecac). Leaflets lance-shaped, more cut than in the last, as are the 



large stipules. AV. G. stlpuldcea. 



