Prunus. ROSACEA. 267 



§ 1. Fruit oblong, fleshy, glabrous: the stone flatfish, smooth, usually acutely mar- 

 gined, or grooved on one edge: flowers white, few to several in umbel-like clusters 

 from lateral scaly buds in early spring. — Prl'XUS. 



1. P. subcordata, Benth. (Wild Plum.) A scraggy much-branched shrub, 



3 to 10 feet high, with ash-gray bark, the branchlets occasionally spinescent : young 

 branches and leaves finely pubescent, becoming glabrous : leaves ovate, cordate to 

 cuneate at base, obtuse or acute, sharply and finely serrulate, about an inch long, 

 shortly petioled ; glands at the base of the blade 1 to 4, or wanting : umbels 2 — 4- 

 flowered; pedicels 3 to G lines long: calyx puberulent : corolla half an inch broad: 

 fruit red, largo and edible, about -J inch lung: stone acutely edged on one side, 

 grooved upon the other. — PI. Hartw. 308. 



On dry rocky hills and in open woods, mostly eastward of the central valley from San Felipe 

 to Oregon ; most abundant in the northern part of the State, win-re also the fruit is larger and 

 more pulpy. It is pleasantly acid and is gathered in considerable quantities by both Indians aud 

 whites. Flowering in April or -May, the fruit is ripe in August and September. 



§ 2. Smaller fruit and stone ovoid or subglobose, the latter marginless : flowers corym- 

 bose or umbellate : otherwise as § 1. — Cerasus. 



2. P. emarginata, Warpers. A shrub 4 to S feet high, -with bark like that of 

 the ordinary Cherry-tree, and chestnut-brown very slender branches, glabrous or 

 nearly so : leaves oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, mostly obtuse, crenately serrulate, 

 1 to 3 inches long, narrowed to a short petiole, with usually one or more glands 

 near the base of the blade: corymb 6— 12-flowered, shorter than the leaves: flowers 

 1 to 6 lines broad : fruit globose, black, about 4 lines long, bitter and astringent : 

 stono with a thick grooved ridge upon one side. — Cerasus emarginata, Dough; 

 Hook. Fl. i. 169. C. glandulosus, Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 59. 



Var. mollis, Brewer. Taller, becoming a small tree 25 feet high : more or less 

 woolly-pubescent, especially on the under side of the leaves. — Cerasus mollis, 

 Dougl. 1. c. ; Xutt. Sylva, ii. 11, t. 4G. P. mollis, Walpers. 



Mostly in open forests, in tin' Sierra Nevada, from yosemite Valley northward to Puget Sound i 

 also more rarely near the eoast ; Oakland Hills and Tomolpais, Bolandcr. The variety is the 

 more common Oregon form. 



§3. Fruit small, globose, fleshy, glabrous: stone broadly ovoid, marginless : flowers 

 white in terminal racemes, appearing after the leaves. — Paul's. 



•".. P. demissa, Walpers. (Wild Cherry.) An erect slender shrub 2 to 12 

 feel high: leaves ovule or oblong-obovate, usually broadest above the middle, ab- 

 ruptly acuminate, mostly rounded or somewhat cordate at base, sharply sen-ate with 

 straight slender teeth, usually more or less pubescent beneath, 2 to 4 inches long, 

 with 1 or 2 glands at base: racemes 3 or 4 inches long, many-flowered : frail 

 bose, purplish-black, or red, sweel and edible but somewhat astringent: stone 

 globose. — Cerasus demissa, Nutt. : Torr. & Gray, II. i. I 1 1 ; Watson, Bot. King 

 Exp. 80. P. Viri/iniaiia, var. dunissa, Torrcv, I!ot. Wilkes, 284 ; Gray, Proc. Am. 

 Acad. viii. 381. 



In the mi. iins throughout the State from San Diego County {Pa to tho 



i olumbia River, except neai the coast, and eastward to the Rocky Mountoina Ii fruits 

 dantly, often who ily 2 or ". feet high. It resembles the loll,. wing species very closely. 



P. VmoiNlANA, Linn. Leaves rarely at all pubescent, more frequently somewhat cuni 

 base: fruit dark red, Tory astringent and scarcely edible; the stone more ovoid and nourish: 

 otherwise liko the last, bnl moro diffuse in habit, and preferring stream banks and moist locali- 

 ties. — hi, doubtful if this species, tho easfe in i Ihoke i Iherry, is found wcsl of tho Rocky Moun- 

 tains. A somewhat similar form, distinct from tho lost, with eon-.picu.uis linear stipules and 

 bracts in the early stage, is toned in tho West Humboldt Mts., Nevada (7f«<s •>>. ana is to bo 

 looked for in the northeastern part of tho Stnto. 



P. skrotina, Rhrhart, the Wild Black Cherry of tho Atlantic States, has been introduced 

 about San Ft tm isco. Ii becomes a tree, and may be distinguished by its mora acuminuti 

 and short incurved callous pointed teeth, onlj tho midvi in ol thi leal sometinii - put* 



