194 ROSACEiE. Prunus. 



1. PRUNUS. Tourn. ; Juss. gen. p. S'il; Endl. gen. 6406. PLUM. 



[ The Latin name for Plum.] 



Calyx urceolate-hemispherical ; the limb 5-parted, regular, deciduous. Petals spreading. 

 Stamens numerous. Ovary smooth. Drupe ovate or oblong, fleshy, smooth, usually 

 covered with a bloom ; the stone or nucleus more or less compressed, acute, smooth, the 

 margins somewhat grooved. — Small trees or shrubs. Leaves serrate, convolute in vernation. 

 Flowers white, usually appearing before the leaves, from lateral buds ; the pedicels in 

 umbellate fascicles. 



1. Prunus Americana, Marshall. Red Plum. Yellow Plum. 



Branches somewhat thorny ; leaves ovate or obovate, conspicuously acuminate, sharply and 

 often doubly serrate, strongly veined underneath, finally almost smooth ; petioles often with 

 2 glands ; umbels 2 - 5-flowered ; drupe roundish-oval (red or yellow when ripe), nearly 

 destitute of bloom. — Marsh, arhiist. j). Ill ; Darlingt. in ann. lye. New-York, 3. p. 87. t. 1, 

 and fl. Cest. p. 287 ; Beck, bot. p. 95 ; Torr. <^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 407. P. nigra. Ait. 

 Kew. (ed. 1.) 2. p. 165 ; Bot. mag. «. 1117 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 331 ; Willd. sp. 2. p. 993. 

 P. hyemalis, Ell. sk. 1. p. 542. Cerasus nigra, Loisel. ; Seringe in DC. prodr. 2. p. 538 ; 

 Hook.fl. Bor.-Am. \.p. 167. 



A tree or large shrub, 8-15 feet high, irregularly branched, and somewhat spiny. Leaves 

 2-3 inches long, pubescent underneath when young. Umbels mostly 3 - 4-flowered. 

 Calyx-segments linear-lanceolate, pubescent. Fruit half an inch to an inch in diameter, oval 

 or nearly globose, mostly reddish-orange when ripe, with a juicy yellow pulp and a thick 

 tough skin. It is palatable when cultivated, but rather acerb in a wild state. 



Banks of streams, borders of woods, etc. ; frequent in the valley of the Hudson, and along 

 the Mohawk. Fl. April. Fr. August. This species is widely diffused throughout the United 

 States. 



2. Prunus maritima, Wang. Beach Plum. Sand Plum. 



Low, with straggling branches, seldom thorny ; leaves varying from ovate to obovate, 

 usually somewhat acuminate, finely and sharply serrate ; petioles, or lower part of the lamina, 

 mostly with 2 glands ; umbels few-flowered ; pedicels short, pubescent ; fruit subglobose, 

 covered with a bloom. — Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. ;;. 408. 



var. 1 : leaves softly pubescent underneath ; fruit large. Torr. <^ Gr. I. c. P. maritima, 

 Wang. Amer. p. 103 ; Willd. enum. 1. p. 519 ; DC. prodr. 2. p. 533. P. sphsrocarpa, 

 Michx. fl. \.p. 284. P. pubescens, Pursh, fl. 1. p. 231 ; Torr.fl. I. p. 469. P. littoralis, 

 Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 193. Cerasus pubescens, Seringe in DC. I. c. p. 538. 



