(ROSE FAMILY.) 51 



petals. Ovary solitary, free, with two pendulous ovules; style terminal. Fruit a drupe, 

 with usually a long stone containing one seed. 

 Deciduous; flowers white. 



Corymbose; appearing before or with the leaves P. emarginata. 1 



Racemose; appearing after the leaves P. demissa. 2 



Evergreen; leafless racemes axillary P. ilicifolia. 3 



1. P. emarginata, Walp. Four to eight feet high, with bark like the ordinary 

 cherry tree, and chestnut- brown very slender branches; leaves oblong-obovate to obiau- 

 ceolate, obtuse, narrowed to a short petiole; corymb 6-12-flowered, shorter than the 

 leaves; flowers 4 to 6 lines broad; fruit globose, black; stone with a thick grooved ridge 

 Upon one side. 



2. P. demissa. Walp. (WILD CHERRY.) Slender, 2 to 12 ft. high; leaves ovate to 

 oblong-ovate, abruptly acuminate, mostly rounded or somewhat cordate at the base; 

 racemes 3 or 4 inches long; fruit purplish-black or red, edible but astringent. 



3. P. ilicifolia, Walp. (EVERGREEN CHERRY.) Much branched, 8 to 12 ft. high, 

 with grayish-brown bark; leaves thick and rigid, shining above, broadly ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate, spinosely toothed; flowers small in racemes ^ to 2 inches long; fruit red or 

 dark purple, half an inch or more thick. 



2. NUTTALLIA, Torr. & Gr. Oso BERRY. 



Petals 5, broadly spatulate, erect. Stamens 15 in two rows, 10 inserted with the 

 petals, and 5 lower down upon the disk lining the calyx-tube, filaments very short, the 

 lower declined. Carpels 5, inserted on the persistent base of the calyx-tube, free, smooth. 



1. N. cerasiformis, Torr. & Gr. A shrub 2 to 15 ft. high; leaves rather broadly 

 oblanceolate, short petioled; racemes of greenish white flowers, appearing with the 

 branchlets from the same bud; drupes blue-black; with a slight furrow on the inner side, 

 6 to 8 lines long, bitter. 



3. SPIR-2BA, L. 



Calyx persistent, 5-lobed. Petals 5, rounded, nearly sessile. Stamens 20 or more, 

 inserted with the petals. Carpels distinct and sessile, becoming several-seeded follicles. 



1. S. discolor, Pursh. A diffuse shrub, 4 ft. high or more with grayish brown bark, 

 pubescent; leaves broadly ovate, truncate at base or cuneate into a slender petiole, pin- 

 nately toothed or lobed, the lobes often dentate; panicle of dingy white flowers much 

 branched, tomentose. 



Var. ariaefolia, Wat. Taller, 5 to 15 ft. high, leaves 2 or 3 inches long, panicle larger. 



Yar. dumosa, Wat. Only 1 or 2 ft. high, leaves an inch long or less, cuneate into a 

 short margined petiole. 



4. NEILLIA, Don. NINE-BARK. 

 Carpels 1 to 5, inflated and divergent; flowers large, white, in simple corymbs. 



