ROSACEAE 



Ceroo oarpus intrieatus, Low Bush Mahogany. This is an in- 

 tricately branched stiff shrub with small revolute leathery leaves. 

 It seems to be practically valueless for either forage or for ero- 

 sion control. It is browsed to some extent by sheep. 



Prunu s arieri oana . This Wild Plum has a wide distribution, 

 being found practically throughout the Rocky Mountains. It can 

 in no sense be called drought resistant, being confined to stream 

 banks or draws where there is considerable moisture. Its habit 

 of forming thickets so dense that only small animals can get 

 through then, renders it an excellent erosion control plant. In 

 places it becomes a weed in the edges of meadows and around farm 

 lots. The fruits are almost universally used by local inhabitants 

 for making jams and jellies. There is no native plant which offers 

 better opportunity for selection work than this. Individual trees 

 have fruit far larger and superior in flavor to the general run of 

 the fruit. 



In 1936 500,000 seedlings were sent to the Pavajo project 

 from the Shiprock Nursery and a similar number was distributed in 

 1937. This wild plum is an ideal nursery plant. The seeds are 

 easy to obtain, they germinate well, and no difficulty is met with 

 in hursery production or transplanting. The only drawback is that 

 the plant is very limited in its adaptability. The question 

 naturally arises, also, about the desirability of distributing a 

 tree which produces a mediocre fruit when it might be possible to 

 obtain selections or other species which would produce a higher 

 grade. As our program advances matters of this kind must receive 

 greater attention. 



Prunus besseyi, Bepsey Plum. Improved strains of this low 

 plains cherry are being grown at Shiprock and Albuquerque. Those 

 at Shiprock produced heavily in 1937 and the seed will be used for 

 increase and eventual distribution. 



* Prun us melanocarpa . The common Choke Cherry is very abun- 

 dant in our mountains at altitudes from 5,000 to 8,000 feet. It 

 forms dense thickets on our gentle slopes leading to streams as 

 well as growing singly in. canyons end on steep banks. In such 

 places as the valleys west of Durango, Colorado, its erosion con- 

 trol value is marked. In good sites it produces an abundance of 

 fruit which is prized for jelly. Farther south this tree is 

 replaced, by P. rufula, which is much less important as an erosion 

 control plant as it commonly grows singly. While both of these 

 arc commonly shrubs or small trees, they occasionally grow to be 

 quite large. 



