THE CHERRIES OF NEW YORK 33 



The wood of the Mahaleb tree is of value in cabinet making, possess- 

 ing among other good qualities a pleasant and lasting odor. The leaves, 

 too, are odoriferous and are more or less used in France in the manu- 

 facture of perfumes and in cookery to give savor to sauces. 



PRUNUS TOMENTOSA Thunberg. 



I. Thunberg Fl. Jap. 203. 1784. 2. Jack Garden & Forest 5:580, fig. 99. 1892. 3. Bailey Cyc. 

 Am. Hort. 3:1451. 1901. 4. Schneider Handb. Laubh. 1:601. 1906. 5. Koehne Plantae Wilsonianae 

 Pt. 2:268. 1912. 



Cerasus tomentosa. 6. Wallich Cat. No. 715. 1829. 



A dwarfish, bush-like plant attaining a height of ten or twelve feet, vigorous, dense- 

 topped, hardy; trunk and branches stocky; branches smooth, grayish-brown; branchlets 

 many, of medium thickness and length, thickly overspread with short pubescence, with 

 short intemodes, roughish, with a few large, raised lenticels near the base. 



Leaves numerous, two and one-eighth inches long, one and one-half inches wide, 

 folded upward or flattened, broad-oval to obovate, velvety; upper surface dull, dark green, 

 rugose; lower surface thickly pubescent, with a prominent midrib and veins; apex abruptly 

 pointed; margin serrate; petiole three-siKteenths inch in length, reddish, pubescent, of 

 medium thickness, with from twelve to fourteen small, globose, yellow glands, usually 

 at the base of the blade. 



Buds very small, short, pointed, free, arranged as lateral buds and in clusters on 

 small, short spurs; leaf -scars not prominent; season of bloom early; flowers appear with 

 the leaves, white, thirteenth-sixteenths inch across; borne singly or in pairs; pedicels 

 short, thick, glabrous; calyx-tube reddish, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, 

 acute, serrate, slightly pubescent, erect; petals white, roundish-ovate, entire, with short 

 claws; anthers tinged with red; pistil pubescent at the base, longer than the stamens, 

 often defective. 



Fruit matures in mid-sea.son; a half-inch in diameter, roundish, slightly compressed; 

 cavity deep, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow; apex depressed, with adherent stigma; color 

 currant-red; dots numerous, small, grayish, obscure; stem thickish, one-eighth to one- 

 quarter of an inch in length, pubescent; skin thick, tender, adheres slightly to the pulp, 

 covered with light pubescence; flesh light red, with light red juice, stringy, melting, 

 sprightly, sotu-; good in quality; stone clinging, one-quarter of an inch long, one-eighth 

 inch wide, oval, slightly pointed, with smooth surfaces. 



The habitat of Prunus tomentosa is probably Central Asia though 

 it is now to be found growing spontaneously in East Tibet and the Chinese 

 provinces of Setschuan, Hupe, Kansu and perhaps Tochlii. 



This shrub-like cherry is very generally cultivated in central, eastern 

 and northern China and in Japan for its fruit and as an ornamental. It 

 has been introduced into cultivation in many widely separated places in 

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