212 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



DRUPACEAE (or AMYGDALACEAE). Plum Family. 



About 10 genera and I'^o species, trees and shrubs, mostly 

 in the northern hemisi)here, chiefly noted for their edible fruits 

 (almond, peach, apricot, plum, cherry, etc.), but some yield lum- 

 ber, medicine, and other products, and some are ornamental. 



CHRYSOBALANUS, L. (Cchalauus. Sniail). 



Deer Plum. Gopher Apple. Ground Oak. 



Chrysobalanus oblongifolius, Mx. 



A low almost unbranched shrub, usually less than a foot high, 

 with stiff shiny pale green reticulated leaves which are evergreen 

 or nearly so, small white flowers in June, and rather large and 

 showy Ijut uneatable fruits which ripen al)out September. It has 

 a network of underground stems, and often grows in patches of 

 considerable size. Its economic properties are unknown. 



Common in dry sandy long-leaf pine forests in the lower 

 counties, where less than 1% of the area was planted in cotton in 

 1880. This species, unlike most other shrubs, is indifferent to fire, 

 for when the tops are burned off the roots soon send up new 

 shoots, ready to bloom in a few weeks or months. 



11 (?). Claiborne, Monroe County (Mohr). 



12. Geneva and Covington Counties. 



13. Common throughout. 



PRUNUS, L. The Plums, Cherries, etc. 



This genus formerly included the almonds, peaches and apri- 

 cots, which are now put in a separate genus, Aniygdahis. The 

 choke-cherries are put by some authorities in Padns and the ever- 

 green species with inedil)le fruit in Laitroccrasits. Init we have so 

 few^ of those that it is simpler to retain them in Pniuiis for the 

 present. In this genus, as in Ruhus and Crataegus, several species 

 of questional)le validity have been described in late years from old- 

 field specimens; but four or five native s]^ecies are al)out all that 

 can bs readily identified in Alabama. The latest monographic 

 treatment of Pruiius ])roper is that of Wight, cited in the bibli- 

 ogra])hv. and the interested reader is referred to that for further 

 particulars. 



