116 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLAXTS. 



inch or more in length. Flowers rather preceding the leaves, solitary or in pairs ; pedicels 

 about half an inch long. Petals white. Drupe oval, ovoid or obovoid, of various colors, 

 from black to pale greenish-yellow, covered with bloorn, the flesh rather firm. 

 Cuhivated. Fl. April. Ir. August. 



Obs. XuDierous forms of this are cultivated —some of them of a large 

 size ; but the depredations of insects render the fruit an uncertain crop — 

 at least in the country. In cities, the insects seem to be less destruc- 

 tive. The Sloe is used in Europe for hedges, and is said to be natural- 

 ized in some j^arts of the United States ; it is now considered as the 

 orisrinal of the numerous varieties of cultivated plum and of the BuUace 

 Plum. 



Indigenous species. 



2. P. America na, Marsh. Branches subspinose ; leaves oval and 

 obovate, conspicuously acuminate, sharply and often doubly serrate, 

 very veiny, smooth when old ; umbels subsessile, 2 - 5-flowered ; fruit 

 roundish, oval, yellow, orange or red, nearly destitute of bloom ; the tur- 

 gid stone more or less acute on both margins. 



American Peunus. Red Plum. Yellow Plum. 



Stevn 8-12 or 15 feet high, much branched, — the young branches virgate, the old ones 

 rugged and somewhat thorny, ieai-es 2 - 3 inches long; petioles one fourth to half an 

 inch long. Flowers preceding the leaves in numerous fascicles of threes or fours .pedicels 

 one third to half an inch long. Petals white. Drupe mostly reddish orange-colored, with 

 a rich succulent yellow pulp, and a thick tough skin. 



Thickets, fence-rows and banks of streams. Canada to Texas. i^Z. April. Pr. August. 



Ohs. This Plum — about which foreign Botanists have been so bewil- 

 dered — is extensively diffused through our country. In its wild state, 

 the flowers are apt to be abortive, — and the fruit is small and rather 

 acerb ; but by long culture, the drupe sometimes becomes as large as a 

 common Apricot. Although of a pleasant flavor, when fully mature, it 

 is not adapted to culinary purposes. 



3. P. mari'tlma, Wang. Seldom thorny ; leaves ovate or oval, finely 

 serrate, softly pubescent underneath ; pedicels short, pubescent ; fruit 

 globular, purple or crimson, with a bloom. 



Beach Plum. ' Sand Plum. 



Alow straggling sJiruh 2-5 feet high. Leaves 2 -Z inches long, rather stiff, smooth 

 above, and downy, especially on the mid-rib and veins, beneath. Flowers in umbels of 2- 

 6 ; pedicels an inch long ; calyx pubescent. Fruit an inch to an inch in diameter ; 

 stone very turgid, acute on one edge, rounded and minutely grooved on the other. 



Near the sea : Massachusetts to Virginia. Fl. May. Fr. Aug. - Sept. 



Ohs. This species is found along the sea-coast and often extends inland 

 for twenty miles or more. When growing at a distance from the sea, its 

 leaves are smoother and thinner and the fruit smaller, — forms which have 

 been considered as distinct varieties or even species. The bush grows 

 in little thickets and is in exposed situations nearly prostrate. The fi'uit 

 varies in quality, often, when fully ripe, of an agreeable flavor ; it is 

 much used for preserving along the New England coast and is sometimes 

 sold in the markets. * 



4. P. Chica'sa, Branches subspinose ; leaves narrow, oblong 



