ROSE FAMILY. 



117 



lanceolate or oblanceolate, acute, fiaely serrulate with glandular-pointed 

 teeth ; umbels sessile, 2 - 3-flowered ; fruit globular, red ; the stone 

 ovoid, almost as thick as wide, rounded at both sutures, one of them 

 minutely grooved. 



Chicasa Peuxus. Chickasaw Plum. Mountain Cherry. 



stem 6-10 or 12 feet high, much branched, the young branches virgate, dark purple, 

 smooth and shining, the old ones crooked or geniculate, and somewhat thorny. Leaves 

 1 -2 inches long, smooth ; j3e<toZes slender, one fourth to three-fourths of an inch long. 

 Flowers appearing with the leaves, in sessile fascicles of threes ; pedicels about half an 

 inch long, slender and smooth. Drupe globose, red or yellowish-red, nearly or quite 

 destitute of bloom, with a tender pulp and a thin skin. 



Cultivated. FL April. Fr. July. 



Obs. This little tree (which is believed to be a native of our South- 

 western territory, — where it is a small shrub, in its wild state, — ) by 

 long culture produces a very pleasant fruit. When we consider the 

 great difficulty attending the culture of the common plum, on account 

 of the attacks of the curcidio, it would seem that this and the other na- 



tive species should receive more attention from our horticulturists than 

 has yet been bestowed upon them. It approaches the Cherry, in char- 

 acter and appearance, and may be considered as a connecting link be- 

 tween the Plum & Cherry. 



§ 2. Cerasus, (Cherry). Fruit destitute of bloom ; the stone globular and 

 marginless ; leaves folded [condupUcate) in the bud ; flowers in umbellate 

 dusters. 



5. P. a'vttm, L. Branches erect or ascending, rather stout ; leaves 



Fig. 79. A flower of the common Garden Cherry (Prunus avium). 80. A divided 

 flower with its solitary pistil free from the calyx. 81. The fruit (drupe) divided to show 

 the hardened inner portion of the fruit (stone) containing the seed. 



/I. H 



