148 POPULAR FLORA. 



4. Wild Black Cherry. Shrub or large tree, with reddish-brown bark on the branches, oblong or 

 lance-oblong leaves with short and blunt teeth, and pnrplish-black vinous fruit, ripe in autumn. 



P. serdtina. 

 Plum. Prunus. 



All are cultivated, except the Beach Plum ; but No. 2 is also wild; so is No. 8 in the Southwest. 



1. Common Plum (P. domestica), with all its varieties, probably came from the Bullace Plum {P. 



indtUia), and that perhaps from the thorny Slob {P. spinbsa). 



2. Wild (Red and Yellow) Plum : well known for its very juicy pulp in a (red or partly j'ellow) 



tough skin ; leaves coarsely serrate. P. Americana. 



3. Chickasaw Plum : with lance-shaped finely serrate leaves, and small red, tliin-skinned, cherry- 



like fruit. S. P. Ckicasa. 



4. Beach Plum. A low bush on the sea-coast, with the leaves downy beneath, and a small purple 



or crimson fruit. P. maritima, 



Meadow-Sweet. Spircea. 



Calyx 5-cleft. Petals B, broad or roundish. Pistils commonly 5, making little pods (follicles) with 



2 or few seeds in each. Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 6 are wild species, but also cult, in gardens and grounds. 



* Shrubs, with white flowers, except No. 2. 



1. Common Meadow-Sweet. Smooth, 2° or 3° high ; leaves oblong or lance-oblong and wedge- 



shaped ; flowers in a crowded panicle, sometimes pale flesh-color. Wet grounds. S. salicifolia. 



2. Downy M., or Hardhack. Leaves coated with wool beneath; flowers rose-color. S. iomenibsa. 



3. Italian M., or May wreath. Smooth; stems 3° or 4° long, recurved; leaves small, spatulate, 



entire; flowers small, in umbels on short leafy shoots. Cult.; fl. in spring. S. hypericifoUa. 



4. Ninebark M. Smoothish, 4° to 10° high ; branches recurving; leaves rounded, 3-lobed ; flowers 



in umbels, in spring; pods 3 to 6, bladdery, turning purplish. Old bark of stems peeling off in 

 thin layers. Eocky banks, N. & W., and cultivated. S. opuUfblia. 



5. Sorb-leaved M. Smooth, 3° to 6° high ; leaves pinnate; leaflets oblong-lance-shaped, pointed, cut- 



toothed; flowers in a large panicle, in spring. Cultivated. S. sorbifolia. 



* * Herbs, with perennial roots, and interruptedly pinnate leaves, and flowers in a crowded compound 

 cyme, on a long naked stalk. All but No. 6 are foreign species. 



6. Queen-of-the-Peaikie M. Smooth; leaflets 3 to 7 and some little ones; end-leaflet very large, 



parted and cleft ; flowers peach-blossom-color, in summer. W. and cult. S. lobata, 



7. English M. Leaves smaller than in the last, white-downy beneath ; flowers white. S. Ulmaria. 



8. Dropwort M. Smooth; leaflets 9 to 21, besides the minute ones, linear-oblong, much cut; cvmes 



of a few slender branches; flowers white, single or double. S.JiUpendula. 



Indian-Physic. Gillenia. 

 Calyx narrow or club-shaped, 5-toothed. Petals 5, lance-shaped, rather unequal, white or pale rose. 

 Stamens 10 to 20, short. Pistils and little pods 5. — Herbs, with perennial roots, and leaves of three 

 cut-toothed thin leaflets. Flowers in a loose corymb or panicle, in summer. 



1. Common Indian-Physic (or Bowman's Eoot). Leaflets oblong; stipules small and entire. W. 



and cultivated in gardens. G. trifolidta. 



2. Western I. (or American Ipecac). Leaflets lance-shaped, more out than in the last, as are the 



laige stipules. W. G. stipulacea. 



