PLUM FAMILY. Drupaceae. 



A pretty shrub with woody, branching 

 Service-berry, t re ddish twigs and smooth, bright 



June-berry 6 . 



Ameldnchier green leaves, sometimes downy on the 



alnifdlia under side, toothed only at the ends. The 



White flowers, less than an inch across, have long, 



Welt g et S c Ummer narrow ' straggling petals, and are so 

 mixed with leaves, and crowded so irregu- 

 larly on the branches, that the effect is rather ragged. The 

 roundish, pulpy, black fruit is liked by the Indians, but 

 though sweet is insipid. When thickets of this shrub are 

 in bloom on mountainsides the effect is very pretty, es- 

 pecially in Utah, where the shrubs are more compact and 

 the flowers less straggling than in Yosemite, giving at a 

 distance much the effect of Hawthorn. It grows as far 

 east as Nebraska and in British Columbia. 



PLUM FAMILY. Drupaceae. 



A rather small family, widely distributed, trees or shrubs, 

 the bark exuding gum, the foliage, bark, and seeds bitter, 

 containing prussic acid ; leaves alternate, toothed, with 

 leaf-stalks; stipules small; flowers mostly perfect, regular, 

 single or in clusters; calyx five-lobed, dropping off after 

 flowering; petals five, inserted on the calyx; stamens 

 numerous, inserted with the petals; pistil one in our genera; 

 ovary superior, developing into a stone-fruit. 



There are many kinds of Prunus, including Cherry as 

 well as Plum, with white or pink flowers and usually edible 

 fruits. Prunus is the ancient Latin name for plum. 



__ . . Mountain slopes near Santa Barbara 



Holly-leaved 



Cherry, Islay are beautiful in June with the creamy 



Prunus ilicifolia flowers of this very ornamental evergreen 



White shrub, from five to twenty-five feet high, 



^ u , m , mer . with shiny, leathery, dark green leaves, 



California * ti-i 



with prickly edges, looking much like 



Holly. The small flowers form close but feathery clusters, 

 from one to three inches long, and smell pleasantly of 

 honey. The sweetish fruit, not particularly good to eat, 

 is a dark red cherry, about half an inch in diameter. In 

 dry places these shrubs are small, but in favorable situ- 

 ations, such as the old mission gardens, where they have 

 been growing for perhaps a hundred years, they develop 

 into small trees. 



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