ROSACEAE 
Canada Plum. Red Plum 
Prunus nigra Ait. [Prunus americana, v. nigra Waugh] 
‘HABIT.—A small tree 20-25 feet high and 5-8 inches in 
trunk diameter; usually divides 5-6 feet from the ground into a 
number of stout, upright branches, forming a narrow, rigid 
crown. 
LRAVES—-Atiernate, simple, 3-5 inches long and one-half 
as broad; oblong-ovate to obovate, abruptly acuminate ‘at the 
apex; doubly crenate-serrate; thick and firm; glabrous, light 
greén above, paler beneath; petioles short, stout, bearing 2 large 
red glands near the blade. ‘ 
FLOWERS.—May, before the leaves; perfect; slightly frag- 
rant; about z inch across; borne on slender, glabrous, red 
pedicels in 2-3-flowered umbels; calyx 5-lobed, dark red; petals 
5, white ; stamens 15-20, with purple anthers; ovary I- celled; 
style 1; stigma I. 
FRUIT.—August-September; a fleshy drupe, about 1 inch 
long, oblong-ovoid, with a tough, thick, orange-red skin nearly 
free from bloom, and yellow flesh adherent to the flat stone. 
Eaten raw or cooked. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds %-%4 
inch long, ovate, acute, chestnut-brown. 
BARK.—Twigs green, marked by numerous pale excrescen- 
ces, later dark brown; thin, gray-brown and smooth on young 
trunks, but soon splitting off in large, thick plates, exposing the 
darker inner bark. 
WOOD.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red- 
brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Upper Peninsula and the Lower Pen- 
insula north of Lansing. 
HABITAT.—Prefers rich, alluvial soil along streams. 
NOTES.—Suckers freely, forming low, broad thickets. 
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