504 



The Wild Cherries 



i. ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD CHERRY - Padus melanocaipa (A. 



Nelson) Shafer 



Prurnis demissa melanocarpa A. Nelson 



This shrub or small tree, also called Choke cherry, is distributed from North 



Dakota to Alberta, Washington, California, 

 Nebraska and New Mexico, sometimes at- 

 taining a height of about lo meters, with a 

 trunk diameter of 3 dm. 



The bark is thin, usually quite smooth 

 and dull, dark gray. The slender twigs are 

 smooth and dark, reddish brown to gray. 

 The leaves are thick and firm, narrowly 

 obovate or oval, abruptly sharp or blimt 

 pointed, rounded or seldom tapering at the 

 base, margined by short, sharp teeth, bright 

 green, smooth and shining above, paler 

 and smooth beneath. The leaf-stalk is 

 stout, glandular, about 2 cm. long, usually 

 quite red. The flowers are in dense, usually 

 short, thick-stemmed racemes 7.5 to 10 cm. 

 long, smooth throughout, the petals about 

 6 mm. long. The fruit is globose, 6 to 8 

 mm. in diameter, black or nearly so, rarely 



yellow, the flesh thin, sweet and but little astringent; stone nearly globular. 

 The wood is hard, weak, close-grained and Ught brown. 

 When in flower this is very beautiful, and is frequently planted for ornament 



about Rocky moimtain homes. Its smooth foliage and nearly black fruit seem 



to distinguish it from the following species. The fruit is used for food by the 



Indians, and is often made into jeUies. 



Fig. 464. — Rocky Mountain Wild Cherry. 



3. COLUMBIAN WILD CHERRY — Padus demissa (Nuttall) Roemer 



Cerasus demissa NuttalL Prunus demissa Walpers 



This tree or shrub, also called the Western choke cherry, is abundant in the 

 Columbia River basin of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, extending east to South 

 Dakota and south to California. It attains a height of 15 meters, with a trunk di- 

 ameter of 6 dm. 



The bark is about 6 mm. thick, slightly fissured, gray-brown. The twigs are 

 stout, densely hairy when young, becoming gray-brown and nearly smooth. The 

 leaves are thick and firm, obovate or oblong-obovate, 5 to 10 cm. long, broadest 

 about the middle, sharp-pointed, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, sharply 



