Black Haw 



855 



roughish scales, are long and taper-pointed; those producing flowers are abruptly 

 thickened at the base, 5 to 6 mm. 

 in diameter, and 2 cm. long. The 

 shining bright green leaves are quite 

 smooth on both sides, 5 to 10 cm. 

 long, ovate, elliptic, or nearly or- 

 bicular, taper-pointed, toothed by 

 sharp, thick teeth, gradually or ab- 

 ruptly narrowed or rounded at the 

 base, and slender stalked. The 

 flowers are borne in sessile cymes 

 4 to 12 cm. across; the corolla is 

 white, 5 to 6 mm. broad, deeply 

 5-lobed. The sweet edible fruit is 

 oval, 10 to 12 mm. long, bluish 

 black, and covered with a bloom; the 

 stone is flat and broadly oval. 



The wood is hard, dense, 

 orange-brown; its specific gravity is 

 about 0.73. 



The great hardiness, graceful habit, handsome bright green foUage, which 

 passes through various shades of orange and red in the autumn, its numerous 

 clusters of fragrant flowers opening in May and followed by the showy fruit sup- 

 ported on bright red stems and changing through red to blue as the season ad- 

 vances, make this one of the most desirable small trees for ornamental planting. 



3. BLACK HAW 

 Vibumum prunifolium Linnaeus 



Fig. 777. — Sweet Vibumum. 



Fig. 778. — Black Haw. 



Usually a shrub, this sometimes be- 

 comes a compact tree with a maximum 

 height of 10 meters and a trunk diameter 

 cf 3 dm. It grows in dry woods and 

 thickets from Connecticut to Kentucky, 

 Georgia and Arkansas. 



The branches are stiff, spreading, and 

 bear many spine-hke twigs. The red- 

 brown bark is about 8 mm. thick and 

 broken into irregular scales. The twigs 

 are somewhat hairy, reddish, then green, 

 and finally become red-brown with age. 

 The winter buds are covered by 2 dark 



rough hairy scales; those producing flowers are about i cm. long, 5 mm. broad, 



