PLUM FAMILY. Drapaceae. 



A pretty shrub with woody, branching 

 StemS ' reddish twi S s and smooth, brighl 

 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 



Spring summer narrow> straggling petals, and are sc 



W 6St) CtC. . . 



mixed with leaves, and crowded so irregti 

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

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

 though sweet is insipid. When thickets of this shrub an 

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

 pecially in Utah, where the shrubs are more compact anc 

 the flowers less straggling than in Yosemite, giving at 

 distance much the effect of Hawthorn. It grows as fai 

 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, wit! 

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

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

 flowering; petals five, inserted on the calyx; stamen; 

 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 ai 

 well as Plum, with white or pink flowers and usually edibl< 

 fruits. Prunus is the ancient Latin name for plum. 



Mountain slopes near Santa Barban 

 Holly-leaved 



Cherry, Islay are beautiful in June with the creamj 

 Prunus ilicifblia flowers of this very ornamental evergreei 

 White shrub, from five to twenty-five feet high 



California with shiny ' leather y dark S reen leav 



with prickly edges, looking much li] 



Holly. The small flowers form close but feathery cluster 

 from one to three inches long, and smell pleasantly 

 honey. The sweetish fruit, not particularly good to ea 

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

 dry places these shrubs are small, but in favorable siti 

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

 been growing for perhaps a hundred years, they develo;! 

 into small trees. 



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