“ 
PLUM FAMILY, Drupaceae. 
A pretty shrub with woody, branching 
ana beg * stems, reddish twigs and smooth, bright 
Awiadbichior green leaves, sometimes downy on the 
alnifolia under side, toothed only at the ends. The 
White flowers, less than an inch across, have long, 
Spring, summer 
narr r ing 
West, etc. ow, straggling petals, and are so 
mixed with leaves, and crowded so irregu- 
larly on the branches, that the effect is rather ragged. The 
roundish, pulpy, black fruit is liked by the Indians, but 
though sweet is insipid. When thickets of this shrub are 
in bloom on mountainsides the effect is very pretty, es- 
pecially in Utah, where the shrubs are more compact and 
the flowers less straggling than in Yosemite, giving at a 
distance much the effect of Hawthorn. It grows as far 
east as Nebraska and in British Columbia. 
PLUM FAMILY. Drupaceae. 
A rather small family, widely distributed, trees or shrubs, 
the bark exuding gum, the foliage, bark, and seeds bitter, 
containing prussic acid; leaves alternate, toothed, with 
leaf-stalks; stipules small; flowers mostly perfect, regular, 
single or in clusters; calyx five-lobed, dropping off after 
flowering; petals five, inserted on the calyx; stamens 
numerous, inserted with the petals; pistil one in our genera; 
ovary superior, developing into a stone-fruit. 
There are many kinds of Prunus, including Cherry as 
well as Plum, with white or pink flowers and usually edible 
fruits. Prunus is the ancient Latin name for plum. ° 
Mountain slopes near Santa Barbara 
Holly-leaved : : ‘ : 
: are beautiful in June with the creamy 
Cherry, Islay 
Prinus ilicifolia flowers of this very ornamental evergreen 
White shrub, from five to twenty-five feet high, 
Summer 
with shiny, leathery, dark green leaves, 
with prickly edges, looking much like 
Holly. The small flowers form close but feathery clusters, 
from one to three inches long, and smell pleasantly of 
honey. The sweetish fruit, not particularly good to eat, 
is a dark red cherry, about half an inch in diameter. In 
dry places these shrubs are small, but in favorable situ- 
ations, such as the old mission gardens, where they have 
been growing for perhaps a hundred years, they develop 
into small trees. 
California 
216 

