AXVII. 3. THE SWAMP PEAR. 445 
Looked at as they are found in Massachusetts, these would, 
without hesitation, be regarded as two species. But when all 
the varieties, from the northern to the southern extremities of 
their native regions are examined, and found to run into each 
other by almost imperceptible gradations, they are very justly 
considered as only forms of one species. It is after such an ex- 
amination that Drs. Torrey and Gray have arranged all the 
varieties under the one species A. Canadénsis.—Flora of N. A., 
I, 473. 
Dr. Hooker says (FV. Bor. Am. I, 203) that Amelinchier ovdlis, 
according to Dr. Richardson, abounds in the sandy plains of 
the Saskatchawan, where its wood is prized by the Cree Indians 
for making pipe-stems and arrows; and it is thence termed by 
the Canadian voyageurs, dois de fiéche. Its berries, which are 
about the size of a pea, are the finest fruit in the country; and 
are used by the Cree Indians, both in a fresh and in a dried 
state. "They ‘‘make excellent puddings, very little inferior to 
plum-pudding.”’ 
This plant, as described by the different botanists, affords a 
striking instance of the effect produced by climate. It 1s spoken 
of by Dr. Richardson, in the cold regions where he found it 
growing, as quite a tree. In England, where it has been culti- 
vated, 1t is a small tree. In Massachusetts, one variety is a 
low tree, the other a shrub. Dr. Darlington describes it, in 
Pennsylvania, as having a stem from two to four or five feet 
high; and Elliot speaks of it as occurring, very rarely, as a 
small shrub two to three feet high. It is a northern plant, and 
he probably noticed it on its very extreme southern limit. 
It would be an interesting experiment, well worth trying, 
to ascertain how far this fruit might be improved by the same 
kind of cultivation which has been given to the apple. All of 
the apple family seem to be particularly susceptible of amelio- 
ration. And if, by a long course of improvement, this fruit 
should be made to differ from its original stock as much as the 
golden pippin differs from the sour crab-apple from which it is 
supposed to have been formed, there are few fruits now known 
superior to what it would become. 
