FOREST TREES. 195 



twenty to thirty feet high in rocky woods, often taking posses- 

 sion of abandoned woodlands, or those from which the trees have 

 been destroyed by fires or tornadoes. This species of wild 

 cherry has been recommended as a stock for the cultivated va- 

 rieties ; but I am not aware that it has been used to any con- 

 siderable extent by nurserymen. A common tree far to the 

 north, and along the mountains southward to North Carolina. 



P. pnmila, L. Dwarf or Sand Cherry. Leaves obovate-lanceo- 

 late, tapering to the base, somewhat toothed near the apex. 

 Flowers small, white, few in a cluster. Fruit one-fourth to a 

 half -inch in diameter, dark red. Flesh of a sub-acid or rather 

 insipid taste. A low spreading or prostrate shrub, with many 

 slender stems. A rather unproductive shrub in cultivation, but 

 wonderfully prolific when growing in the sands along the 

 shores of our northern lakes and ponds, Plants of this species 

 have often been offered for sale by tree-peddlers, in fact, large 

 numbers have been sold under such names as Utah Cherry, 

 Dwarf Cherry, etc., but it is not worth cultivating except as a 

 curiosity. It is found wild in Massachusetts, and westward to 

 Lake Superior. 



P. serotina, Ehrh. Wild Black Cherry. Leaves oblong, taper- 

 pointed, serrate, with incurved short teeth ; rather thick, 

 smooth, and shining above. Flowers in long pendulous racemes. 

 Fruit purplish-black, slightly bitter, but with a pleasant vinous 

 taste. Wood light red, close-grained, easily worked, and long 

 known as one of our most valuable native woods for various 

 kinds of cabinet work. A large tree, sixty feet high and over, 

 with stem three to four feet in diameter. Once very abundant 

 in our Northern States, but trees of large size are becoming 

 quite scarce. It is found in forests as far north as Hudson's Bay, 

 and south to Florida, and west to Texas, and northward in the 

 Valley of the Mississippi to Iowa. 



P. siibconlata, Benth. California Plum. Leaves ovate, heart- 

 shaped, or wedge-shaped at base, obtuse or acute, sharply and 

 finely serrate. Young branches and leaves pubescent in spring, 

 becoming smooth in summer. Fruit about three-fourths of an 

 inch long, red, and edible ; stone acutely edged on one side. A 

 scraggy shrub, four to ten feet high. California and Oregon in 

 dry, rocky hills. 



P. uinhcllata. Ell. Leaves thin, ovate-lanceolate, acute at 

 both ends, sometimes the upper ones are rounded at the base ; 



