NATIVE AMEEICAlSr SPECIES OF PRUNUS. 



23 



While not the first American species to come to the notice of Euro- 

 pean explorers, Primus nigra was nevertheless one of the earHest, 

 having been observed by Jacques Cartier in the possession of Indians 

 whom he met in the Bay of Chaleur on the occasion of his first voyage 

 to America in 1534. Again on his second voyage Cartier found trees 

 near the Isle of Orleans, and as late as 1895 the species stiU grew in 

 the vicinity, specimens having been collected on the island by J. G. 

 Jack, of the Arnold Arboretum. 



Xot\\athstanduig* the fact of its being seen by the early European 

 voyagers, the species did not receive botanical description until 1789, 

 when it was described briefly by WiUiam Aiton from cultivated speci- 

 mens. It is said by Aiton to be a "native of Canada" and to have 

 been introduced into English gardens by Lee & Kennedy, nurserymen 



i 



Fig. 1.— Outline map of the United States, showing the distribution of native American species of 

 Prunus: Nigra, americana, mexicana, and subcordala. 



Sit Hammersmith, near London. Its introduction on the Continent 

 may have been somewhat earlier, for it is this species that is figured 

 ])y Poiteau and Turpin (20) as La Galissonniere, Prunus Memalis. 

 These authors state that M. de la Galissonniere was sent to Canada 

 as governor by Louis XV in 1750 and that seeds were sent by him 

 whifh were planted in the "Jardin du Roi, h Paris." Tliough the 

 date of introduction is not given, it must have occurred within a fow 

 years, for Galissonniere remained in Canada ])iit a short time. In 

 fact, it is ([whci y)osHi])lo that Leo & Kennedy obtained tlie s])eci(^s 

 from France. Tlu; tyj)e specimen is at the Natural History Museum, 

 London. The ha];itat of Oerasus horealis Michx.' is given as 



■Bailey, L. II. (.5, p. 19.1). "Of hLs [MIchaux'H] Cerasus borealla there are two things on the sheet, but 

 they arc Ujth fomu ot P. horlulana." 



