PLUM FAMILY 



character that differentiates the genus, — a single long= 

 styled pistil which sits alone at the bottom of the urn- 

 shaped calyx-tube and there remains, continually en- 

 larging as time goes on until it develops into what we 

 know as a stone fruit. 



BEACH PLUM 



Priinus maritirna. 



Low, straggling, thornless, one to seven feet high, growing in 

 clumps among the loose stones or in the sand of the sea-shore 

 and in arid sandy places, twenty miles or more from the sea. 

 Ranges from New Brunswick to Delaware and Virginia. 



Stems. — Shoots stout, brown, pubescent, dotted with orange 

 lenticels. Stems dark, erect, or prostrate; branches stiff. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, pinnately veined, two to three 

 inches long, oval, ovate or obovate, rounded at base, sharply ser- 

 rate, acute at apex. They come out of the bud convolute, pale 

 green, downy, shining ; when full grown are dark green, glabrous 

 above, pale green and pubescent beneatli. Often there are one 

 or two glands near the base. In autumn they turn a dull red 

 or orange. Stipules small and early deciduous. Petioles short, 

 pubescent. 



Flowers. — April, May, before the leaves. White, showy, 

 abundant, one-half to three-fourths of an inch broad, borne in 

 lateral umbels ; calyxdobes rounded, slightly pubescent, petals 

 obovate. 



Fruit. — Globose drupe, purple or crimson, covered with a 

 bloom, one-half to one inch in diameter, sweet when ripe. 

 Abundant. August, September. Offered for sale in the local 

 markets under the name of Beach Plum. 



Garden and Forest describes the Beach Plum as " A 

 handsome plant when in flower, and one which is too 

 seldom seen in gardens. A well known coast-plant, it 

 is found from Maine to Virginia, frequently covering 

 sandy dunes adjacent to sea-beaches. It is a low, com- 



io8 



