68 BULLETIN 179_, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



Prunus Besseyi Bailey. 



(Western sand cherry.) 



Prunus besseyi Bailey, 1894, N. Y. Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 70, p. 261. 

 Prunus pumila besseyi Waugh, 1899, Vt. Agr. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 12, p. 239. 

 Prunus rosebudii Reagan, 1907, in Ber. Dent. Bot. Ges., Jahrg. 25, Heft 6, p. 343. 

 Prunus prunella Daniels, 1911, in Univ. Mo., Studies, Sci. Ser., v. 2, no. 2, p. 151. 



Leaves oval-elliptic or oblong-obovate (PI. VII, fig. 5), rarely 

 narrower and oblanceolate, 3 to 4.5 cm. long, 9 to 15 mm. broad, 

 cuneate toward the base, acute or rarely obtuse at the apex, sharply 

 serrate from below the middle-, glabrous on both surfaces; petiole 

 5 to 6 mm. long; stipules linear and glandular serrate or sometimes 

 sHghtly laciniate. Flowers appearing with or before the leaves in 

 the prairie region from the last of April to the middle of May or at 

 higher altitudes probably somewhat later, 10 to 12 mm. broad, in 

 clusters of 3 to 4; pedicels and calyx glabrous; pedicels 6 to 7 mm. 

 long, glandular; petals oblong-oval, narrowed to a claw, about 6 mm. 

 long. Fruit nearly black or varying to red and yellowish, nearly 

 globular or somewhat oblong, 15 to 18 mm. in diameter, ripening 

 in August and September; stone nearly globose to somewhat ovoid 

 (PI. XII, figs. 25 to 28) 7.5 to 10 mm. long, 6 to 8 mm. broad, 5.5 

 to 6.5 mm. thick, rounded or even slightly truncate at the base and 

 obtuse or somewhat pointed at the apex, grooved on either side of 

 the ventral and along the dorsal edge. 



Prunus iesseyi is a dwarf, bushy shrub, 1 to 4 feet high, erect or 

 often more or less prostrate, sprouting from the roots, though not 

 forming a dense growth or thicket. 



Its distribution (fig. 4) includes South Dakota, where it was col- 

 lected by Geyer in 1839 on the "hiUs of Missouri near the mouth 

 of Shian^ [Cheyenne] River," to Nebraska and Kansas and the eastern 

 slope of the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado and Wyoming. 



The western sand cherry is distinguished from Prunus pumila 

 by its more bushy habit and broader leaves, from P. cuneata by its 

 more pointed leaves, and from both these species by its leaves being 

 shorter in proportion to their width and more prominently serrate, 

 by the shorter petioles, and by its usually larger fruit. 



It was introduced into cultivation in 1892 as the "Improved 

 Dwarf Rocky Mountain," by Charles E. Pennock (2, p. 60; 3, p. 159), 

 of Bellvue, Colo., who says he first saw this cherry in 1878 along the 

 Cache la Poudre River, about 8 miles from his farm. It had been 

 cultivated in the gardens in the same country, however, at least a 

 few years earher than its discovery by Mr. Pennock (2, p. 60) along 



1 Nicollet (57, p. 143). The name of this river is spelled Shayen,an(i there can be little doubt that it is 

 the stream designated by Geyer "Shian." The specimen is in the herbarium of the Missouri Botanical 

 Garden. 



