REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 - 39 
cluster is generally less than the number of its flowers because 
some flowers fail to produce fruit. The fruit may be globose, oval, 
oblong, ovate or pyriform. It is not invariably of the same size 
and shape on the same tree but it is now thought to furnish char- 
acters of specific value. When the flower stem is short and stout 
the ripe fruit is likely to be erect. If the flower stem is long and 
slender the ripe fruit is likely to droop on its stem. In some 
species the hairinessof the calyx tube of the flower persists and the 
fruit is hairy, in others it disappears and the fruit is smooth. In 
some the fruit falls when it is ripe or soon after, in others it hangs 
on the branches after the leaves have fallen, persisting sometimes 
till winter or in rare cases and partially till the following spring. 
In most species the color of the ripe fruit is some shade of red, 
either orange red, scarlet, vermilion or crimson. In some it is 
yellow, greenish yellow, or these colors varied with a red cheek. 
In some species the fruit has a distinct pruinosity or bloom, in 
others an indistinct or scarcely noticeable bloom is present. Such 
fruits have a dull or opaque color but a little rubbing of the sur- 
face brings out a shining color. The cuticle in some species may 
be stripped from the fully ripe fruit as from a very ripe peach or 
pear. The flesh or pulp in some is dry and mealy, in others juicy 
and soft. It may be whitish, greenish yellow, orange or red. In 
many species the fruit has an agreeable flavor and is sweet or 
slightly acid and edible. In some cases it has been utilized in 
making jelly. In size it varies much, being but three or four lines 
in diameter in some and nearly an inch in others. In most of our 
species it is from five to seven lines in diameter. The number of 
nutlets of the fruit generally equals the number of styles in the 
flower. In the section Tomentosae the nutlets differ from those 
of the other sections in having the inner faces excavated. Thorn 
bushes appear to have in some cases their “ off years” like apple- 
trees. A bush may be loaded with fruit one year and the next 
have none. Sometimes the fruit fails because of late frosts. This 
happened about Lake Placid the past season. <A severe frost the 
last week in May killed the stamens and pistils even in the 
unopened flower buds, and though the petals were apparently 
