( 127) 



has escaped from cultivation and is now practically wild. 



The crab apple is a tree sometimes as high as 25 feet, and 

 its stout spreading branches often form a round-topped tree 

 that is almost as wide as this. The oval-oblong leaf-blades 

 are mostly rounded at the base and rounded or pointed at the 

 tip. The marginal teeth are numerous and sharp. The 

 flowers are usually clustered and make a magnificent showing 

 in the early spring. The fine whitish or rose-colored petals, 

 exhaling a delicate fragrance, are the most conspicuous fea- 

 ture of the flowers. In mid-summer the crab apples are 

 ripe. They are usually about y 2 inch in diameter, fragrant 

 and greenish-yellow in color. 



The natural range of the tree is from Ontario south to the 

 District of Columbia and westward. It is evidently rare in 

 the Hudson Valley but grows in northern New Jersey. A 

 few tool handles and domestic articles are made from its 

 wood. 



Serviceberry Amelanchier canadensis 



The illustration gives a very fair idea of the shape of the 

 serviceberry. The tree is seldom more than 40 feet high 

 and often forms a symmetrical round crown. The shallowly 

 fissured bark is dark reddish-brown and the twigs are the 

 same color when old, and quite smooth. The leaf-stalks 

 and young leaves are usually slightly hairy but become 

 smooth when mature, except that the under side of the leaf- 

 blades are sometimes persistently hairy. The leaf-blades are 

 from i 1 /?. to 4 inches long, oblong or oval-oblong in outline, 

 and shallowly heart-shaped at the base. On the margins the 

 leaves are somewhat coarsely toothed. 



When the leaves are about one third grown the white 

 flowers cover the tree. They are clustered and often the 

 clusters droop. The fine white petals are arranged not 

 unlike a star, and they are blunt at the tip and narrowed 

 towards the middle of the flower. About July or August 

 the reddish-purple fruits ripen. There are from 4 to 10 

 seeds in each fruit, which is not more than % inch in 

 diameter. 



