126 TREES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



head, in open places, spreading, somewhat symmetrical, with 

 dull foliage, but very attractive in flower and fruit, the latter 

 variable in color and quantity. 



Bark. Trunk and branches dull gray, darker on older trees, 

 rough with raised buff-orange spots ; branchlets dull grayish 

 or reddish brown ; season's shoots lighter, minutely dotted. 

 Bitter to the taste. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds l-lj inches long, conical, 

 sharp-pointed, brown, slightly divergent from the stem. 



Leaves 2-5 inches long and two-thirds as wide, dull green on 

 the upper side, lighter beneath, obovate or oblong, thin, finely, 

 sharply, and often doubly serrate ; apex abruptly pointed ; 

 base roundish, obtuse or slightly heart-shaped ; leafstalk round, 

 grooved, with two or more glands near base of leaf ; stipules 

 long, narrow, ciliate, falling when the leaves expand. 



Inflorescence. Appearing in May, a week earlier than 

 P. serotina, terminating lateral, leafy shoots of the season 

 in numerous handsome, erect or spreading racemes, 2-4 

 inches long ; flowers short-stemmed, about -J- inch across ; petals 

 white, roundish; edge often eroded; calyx 5-cleft with thin 

 reflexed lobes, soon falling ; stamens numerous ; pistil 1 ; 

 style 1. 



Fruit. In drooping racemes ; varying from yellow to nearly 

 black, commonly bright red, edible, but more or less astringent ; 

 stem somewhat persistent after the cherry falls. 



Horticultural Value. Hardy throughout New England ; grows 

 in almost any soil, but prefers a deep, rich, moist loam. Vigor- 

 ous young trees are attractive, but in New England they soon 

 begin to show dead branches, and are so seriously affected by 

 insects and fungous diseases that it is not wise to use them in 

 ornamental plantations, or to permit them to remain on the 

 roadside. 



PLATE LXIV. PRUNUS VIRGINIANA. 



1. Winter buds. 



2. Flowering branch. 



3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. 



4. A petal. 



5. Fruiting branch. 



