0184 



Wild cherry wood is highly valued for cabinetry. It's used to make tables, 

 bedsteads, etc. It's one of our most beautiful native woods. 



The mahaleb cherry tree, Cerasus mahaleb, Primus mahaleb^ Linn., is an 

 approximately twenty-foot high tree with grayish bark. The leaves are rounded-oval, 

 smooth, with small teeth on the edges. The flowers are arranged six or eight together in 

 loose clusters spread along the branches. They are replaced by a small oval-rounded fruit 

 with a bitter, unpleasant taste. 



FLOWERS: May and June. 



RANGE: The forests of France and of a part of Europe. 



NOMENCLATURE. Commonly called quenot malague, de bois de Sainte-Lucie 

 because it grows abundantly in Sainte-Lucie, in Lorraine. German, wohlriechende 

 kircheslein weichel. English, perfumed cherry. Spanish, Pao San Gregorio. 



USES. The lathe-workers and carpenters of Sainte-Lucie use the wood a lot. They 

 make small pieces of furniture out of it that have a very long-lasting, pleasant aroma. 



In earlier times the pits of the fruit were believed to be able to dissolve bladder 

 stones [Translator's note: an affliction formerly seen in Europe but now more prevalent 

 in developing countries]. But it seems that this property was imaginary. The wood of the 

 mahaleb cherry tree is thought to be a sudorific, but it's not used medicinally. Bauhin says 

 that blackbirds and thrushes greatly relish its fruit. 



The bird cherry, Cerasus padus, Prunus padus, Linn., is a large shrub that grows 

 about twelve feet high. The vivid green leaves are alternate, oval-lanceolate, and smooth 

 with saw-tooth edges. The large numbers of white flowers are arranged in slightly 

 pendent clusters that are longer than the leaves. The small, round, black fruit has a bitter, 

 unpleasant taste. 



FLOWERS: in May. It grows wild in the forests of France. 



NOMENCLATURE. Padus, from a Greek word used by Theophrastus to denote a 

 tree similar to the cherry tree. Commonly, putiet, merisier a grappes, faux bois de Sainte- 

 Lucie [Translator's note: stinktree, flowering wild cherry tree, false Sainte-Lucie tree]. 

 German, traubenkirsche faulbeere. English, common birdcherry tree. Italian, pado. 



