24 BULLETIlSr 179, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



"in America boreali et in altis montibus Novae Angliae," and the 

 type specimen is probably in the Michaux herbarium at the Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Michaux's description is scarcely 

 distinctive, but if he really had a specimen from the mountains of 

 New England it could not be other than Prunus nigra. P. mollis 

 was described by John Torrey from a specimen collected by Chester 

 Dewey " in Massachusetts, on the road from Wilhams College to Troy." 

 This specimen is preserved in the Herbarium of Columbia University, 

 at the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York City. 

 The legend on the sheet reads "I found this on the road to Troy and 

 the people said it was not set out as they beheved, for it is common 

 in the woods." The specimen is unquestionably P. nigra. 



Prunus nigra is grown locally in various parts of Canada and the 

 fruit is sold on the markets in many of the cities, yet it has given 

 rise to very few named varieties and has not occupied the place in 

 American horticulture which it deserves. The strength of the wood 

 enables the tree to withstand the heavy snows and severe storms of 

 Canada with less injury from breaking than is the case with P. amer- 

 icana, and this fact with its hardiness should commend it for regions 

 subject to such conditions. 



The varieties Aitkin, Cheney, Crimson, Itasca, Odegard, Oxford, 

 Smith Red, Snelling, and Whyte, although showing slight differences, 

 are typical of the species. The varieties Hanson and Wazata have 

 leaves narrower in proportion to their length and with more unequal 

 serrations; these are rounded, however, and the calvx characters 

 are those of Prunus nigra. Similar specimens have also been col- 

 lected in a wild state. 



Prunus Americana Marsh. 



(Wild plum.) 



Prunus americana Marsh., 1785, Arb. Amer., p. 111. 



Prunus latifoUa Moench, 1785, Verz. Ausl. Baume, p. 85. 



Prunus hiemalis Michx., in part, 1803, Fl. Bor. Amer., t. 1, p. 284. 



Cerasus americana Hook, and Arn., 1835, in Comp. Bot. Mag., v. 1, p. 24. 



Prunus ignotus {ignotd\ Nelson, 1906, in Bot. Gaz., v. 42, no. 1, p. 53. 



Leaves (PL I, fig. 1) oval or sometimes oblong-oval to narrowly 

 obovate, 6 to 10 cm. long, 2.5 to 5 cm. broad, acuminate toward the 

 apex and usually rather gradually narrowed at the base, green and 

 glabrous above, pale and glabrous below, except along the midvein, 

 or entirely glabrous or rarely thinly and inconspicuously pubescent, 

 the margin sharply and sometimes doubly serrate; petioles 7 to 14 

 mm. long, pubescent along the upper surface or sometimes glabrate, 

 eglandular, or with one or two glands near the apex; stipules linear 

 or lobed and the lobes linear, glandular along the margin. Flowers 

 18 to 25 mm. broad, in nearly sessile umbels of 3 to 4, appearing with 



