THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 73 



into claws at the base; filaments and ovary glabrous; anthers often reddish; style 

 slender with a funnel-shaped apex. 



Fruit matures in summer or early autumn; from one-quarter to three-quarters 



inch in diameter, sub-globose or ovoid, dark blue or purple with heavy bloom; skin 



.thick and tough; flesh yellow, juicy, acid and somewhat astringent; stone clinging to 



the flesh, turgid, acute at the ends, thin-walled, ridged on the ventral and grooved on 



the dorsal suture. 



In leaf, flower and tree Prunus alleghaniensis resembles Prunus amer- 

 icana. The species has long been known to be distinct, however, having 

 been first distinguished by J. R. Lowrie of Warriorsmark, Pennsylvania, 

 in 1859,' and was published as such in 1877, when T. C. Porter of Lafayette 

 College described it as Prunus alleghaniensis. It differs from Prunus 

 americana chiefly in the smaller size of the plant, smaller leaves and flowers, 

 in color of flowers which fade to pink in this species, and in fruit -characters. 

 The fruit matures earlier, is much smaller in size, is more globose, and 

 is a dark purple or blue with very heavy bloom. The skin is thick and 

 tough and while the texture of the flesh is as good as that of the wild 

 Americanas the flavor is much more astringent. The stone is more 

 swollen. The plant is commonly but a shrub, usually found along fence 

 rows and the borders of woodlands, but intermingled among old thickets 

 of this kind there are often a few small trees. It is a hardy species, 

 very productive, and seemingly but little attacked by either insects or 

 fungi, being especially exempt from black-knot." In the wild state it 

 produces great numbers of suckers which seem to spring very readily from 

 a bruise or an exposed root. 



The range of Prunus alleghaniensis is exceedingly limited. It is 

 fotmd in abundance only in a small territory in central Pennsylvania, 

 being of most frequent occurrence in the barrens of northern Huntingdon 

 Cotmty, extending from there north into Center County and northwest- 

 ward over the Alleghany Mountains into Clearfield and Elk counties. 

 It grows for the most part in elevated lands of the wildest character, being 

 found on low, moist soils, on high and dry barrens and on Hmestone cliffs, 

 reaching its greatest size in the last situation. 



Specimens identified as Prunus alleghaniensis have been foimd in at 

 least two places in Connecticut and the writer has just seen specimens of a 

 closely allied form collected by W. F. Wight of the United States Depart- 



^ Silva of North America 4:28. 1893. 

 'Jack, J. G. Gard. and For. 7:206. 1894. 



