B24 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 
section as eastward, where it is one of the first trees to come 
in on old timber lands. 
Properties of wood.—Light, soft, close grained, light brown in 
color, with thin yellow sapwood. Specific gravity 0.5023; a 
cubic foot weighs 31.30 pounds. 
Uses —The Wild Red Cherry is very hardy, grows rapidly 
under cultivation, and is well adapted to prairie planting. It 
is shapely and handsome, although a short lived tree. In the 
early spring it is conspicuous by reason of its great quantity 
of white flowers. It might be used for shade in timber plant- 
ings and for bird food. The fruit is used for domestic pur- 
poses and in the preparation of cough mixtures. Seedlings 
have been used to a limited extent as a stock for the cultivated 
cherries. 
Prunus serotina. Black Cherry. Wild Black Cherry. 
Rum Cherry. 
Leaves oval oblong, or lanceolate-oblong taper-pointed, ser- 
tate, with two to four reddish glands on petiole. Flowers ap- 
pear in June after the leaves are full grown, in long pendulous 
white racemes. Fruit somewhat larger than a pea, purplish 
black when ripe, smooth, one-seeded, rarely two-seeded, ripens 
in August or September in Minnesota. A large tree, sixty or 
more feet high, but generally much smaller at the hmit of its 
range. 
Distribution—From Nova Scotia westward through the 
Canadian Provinces and Northern States to Dakota, and south 
to Texas and Florida. In Minnesota common throughout all 
but the extreme northern part of the state, in woods along 
shaded lake shores and banks. 
Propagation —The Black Cherry is grown from seeds which 
are produced in great abundance. They should be sown when 
gathered in the autumn, or stratified over winter and sown in 
the spring. 
Properties of wood.—Light, strong and rather hard, with a 
close, straight grain and satiny surface susceptible of receiving a 
beautiful polish. It is light brown or red, with a thin layer of 
yellow sapwood, but grows darker on exposure to the air. Spe- 
cific gravily 0.5822; weight of a cubie foot 36.28 pounds. 
