FOREST TREES. 127 
1. Prunus serotina— Wild Black Cherry. 
Leaves, oblong or lanceolate-oblong, taper-pointed, 
serrate, with in-curved, short and callous teeth, thick- 
ish, shining above; racemes, elongated; petals, obo- 
vate; fruit, purplish-black. 
The Wild Cherry is found throughout the north- 
ern half of the United States east of the Rocky 
mountains, and, in favorable situations, becomes a 
very large tree. Although the soil and climate are 
well suited to its growth, it is rarely found of very 
considerable size in the neighborhood of the prairies 
of lllinois and Iowa. The reason appears to be, 
that the fires which formerly ravaged these regions 
destroyed it more easily than the Oaks and Hicko- 
ries. It is found in the Southern States along the 
Alleghany mountains. The wood is highly esteemed 
for cabinet work, and was formerly preferred to the 
Black Walnut. I have seen old houses in which 
Wild Cherry had been principally employed for the 
interior woodwork. But the large stocks which once 
abounded in the forests of many parts of the coun- 
try are now very rarely seen, except in remote and. 
thinly settled districts. The wood is of a light red 
color, becoming darker with age; it is compact, fine- 
grained and not liable to warp. 
The Wild Cherry is a fine ornamental tree, but is 
liable to the objection, that, in open grounds, it is 
more likely to be infested by the tent caterpillar than 
even the Apple Tree. When growing in groves or 
forests, I have seldom if ever seen it attacked by this 
insect. Like some other kinds of timber, it is not 
