FOREST TREES. 193 



racemes, appearing after the leaves. Fruit small, round, purp- 

 lish-black, or red, sweet and edible, but somewhat astringent. 

 An erect, slender shrub, three to twelve feet high. San Diego 

 northward to the Columbia River, and eastward to the 

 Rocky Mountains. I found this species with several natural 

 varieties growing in the canyons of New Mexico, at an eleva- 

 tion of seven or eight thousand feet. The fruit on some plants 

 are quite small and black, on others near by large or nearly 

 a half inch in diameter, and of a bright red color, and produced 

 in long, drooping racemes. I have some very promising seed- 

 lings of the large red variety, which I hope to fruit soon. 



P. emarglnata, Walpers. California Cherry. Leaves oblong- 

 obovate to oblanceolate, one to three inches long, narrowed to 

 a short petiole, with one or more glands near the base. Flowers 

 six to twelve in a cluster. Fruit round, black, about one-third 

 of an inch long, very bitter and astringent. A small shrub four 

 to eight feet high. 



Var. mollis, Brewer, is said to be a much taller-growing, 

 reaching a hight of twenty-five feet, mostly in open forests in 

 Northern California, Oregon and Washington Territory. 



P. fasdcnlata, Gray. Dwarf Cherry. Leaves small, a half- 

 inch long, in bundles or clustered, obtuse or acutish, with very 

 short stalks. Fruit very small, hairy or velvety skin ; pulp 

 thin, stone acute at both ends, smooth and scarcely margined. 

 A small, much-branched shrub, two or three feet high. In 

 Southern Sierra Nevada, Utah and Arizona. 



P. ilififolJa, Walp. Evergreen or Holly-leaved Cherry. 

 Leaves thick and rigid, shining above, broadly-ovate, obtuse or 

 acute, somewhat heart-shaped at base, spinosely toothed, an 

 inch or two long. Flowers small in racemes, as shown in fig. 

 46. Fruit large, half an inch in diameter or more, usually red, 

 but often dark purple or black. Pulp acid and astringent, but 

 pleasant flavored. The bark is gray, rather rough. Wood close- 

 grained, tough and of a reddish color. A large and handsome 

 evergreen shrub in the Coast Ranges of California, from San 

 Francisco to San Diego and Western Arizona. 



P. maritima, Wang. Beach Plum. Leaves ovate or oval, 

 finely serrate, soft, velvety underneath. Flowers white, pro- 

 duced in great abundance. Fruit globular, dark purple, about 

 a half inch in diameter, edible and rather pleasant flavored. 

 Under cultivation, the fruit becomes much larger than in the 



