Trees of New York State 257 



ROSACEAE 



Prunus Cerasus L, 



Sour Cherry, Morello Cherry 



Habit — A small tree 20-30 feet in height with a trunk diameter of 10-12 

 inches, occasionally under favorable conditions 40 feet in height. Bole 

 seldom more than 4-6 feet long, breaking up into stout, ascending, spread- 

 in branches to form a broad, low, rounded crown. 



Leaves — Alternate, ovate-lanceolate to narrowly obovate, 2%-4 inches long, 

 1-1% inches wide, acute or abruptly acuminate at the apex, rounded or 

 cuneate at the base, unequally crenate-serrate, at maturity thick, firm, 

 smooth, dark green and lustrous above, paler and smooth below, borne on 

 slender, usually biglandular petioles -V^-l inch long. 



Flowers — Appearing in April or May with the leaves, perfect, about 1 inch 

 broad, borne on slender pedicels in 1-5-flowered, lateral, sessile umbels 

 which are scaly at the base from the persisting appressed scales of the 

 flower-buds. Calyx-tube -urn-shaped, glabrous, 5-lobed, the lobes oblong, 

 obtuse, minutely glandular-serrate and reflexed. Petals 5, white, broadly 

 obovate and sometimes notched at the summit, short-clawed at the base, 

 inserted with the stamens on the calyx-tube. Stamens about 30, with 

 long filiform filaments and oval anthers. Pistil green, glabrous, consist- 

 ing of a 1-celled ovary, long style and broad, simple stigma. 



Fruit — A depressed-globose, long-stalked, red or reddish black drupe, about 

 % of an inch in diameter in the wild form, maturing in June or July. 

 Flesh juicy, sour. Stone subglobose, apiculate at the apex, slightly ridged 

 on one side. 



Winter characters — Twigs rather stout, glabrous, red or grayish brown and 

 somewhat lustrous or partly covered with a grayish evanescent skin, -with. 

 characteristic bitter taste and odor when broken. Older twigs Avith short, 

 stubby fruit-spurs. Buds ovate, acute, reddish brown, clustered near the 

 tips of the fruit-spurs or scattered along vigorous shoots, about Vs of 

 an inch long. Outer bark thin, reddish brown, smooth aside from the 

 prominent, horizontally elongated lenticels, soon peeling back to expose 

 the rougher inner bark. 



Habitat — In rich, moist soil about abandoned homesteads, along fences and 

 roadsides and the margins of woods. Spreads readily from seeds or root- 

 suckers. 



Range — A native of southern Europe but now AA-idely naturalized as an 

 " escape " in the eastern United States. Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — .The importance of the species lies chiefly in its horticultural value as 

 the source of various varieties of canning cherries. Wood heavy, rather 

 soft, brittle, close-grained. Used in Europe for furniture and interior 

 finish. 



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