97 



4- Schmitz, J. Lebens und Entwickelungsgeschichte einiger 



Schwamme aus der Klasse der Gastromyceten und Hyme- 



nomyceten. Linnaea i6 : 175. 1842. 



Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, New York. 



OUR EASTERN SHADWOODS 



By W. H. Blanchard 



The genus Ame/a?ic/i?er is interesting to many people, and bot- 

 anists are but a small part of them. The flowers are early and 

 showy and the fruit is early and quite edible. Throughout most 

 parts of the north temperate zone some form of it occurs, often 

 more than one, and all are much alike. They may be treated as 

 forms of a single species as Michaux, and Torrey and Gray 

 treated our North American forms. 



All of the forms of this genus readily and probably naturally 

 fall into two classes. The type of one class is our A. canadensis 

 (L.) Medic. This class is characterized by serrate acuminate 

 leaves varying from cordate to cuneate, and naked-topped fruit. 

 It includes A. asiatica, A. oblongifolia (T. & G.) Roem. and A. 

 oligocarpa (Michx.) Roem. The last-named may be made a 

 subclass. 



The type of the other class is the European A. rotiindifolia 

 (Lamarck) Dum.-Cours, synonyms of which are A. vulgar'is, A. 

 ovalis Medic. (1793) and A. Amelancliicr. This second class is 

 characterized by oblong or rounded leaves, generally dentate and 

 often thick, and woolly-topped fruit. It includes Michaux's 

 Mespilns canadensis var. rotiindifolia, Lamarck's Crataegus spi- 

 cata, Spach's A. ovalis, and Nuttall's A. alnifolia and the large 

 number of species lately segregated from A. alnifolia in the 

 " Far West." All of the characters of these two classes though 

 pretty constant are not always so. 



To decide on the names by which the forms shall be called is 

 not a simple matter. They have been described as species and 

 varieties under several generic names, the best known being Mes- 

 pilus, Crataegus, Pyrus, Aronia, and Ainelanchier, and have often 



