98 
NEW AMERICAN REMEDIES. 
the Cerasus virginiano , Michx. FI. Bor. Amer. vol. i. p. 283, and Michx. N. 
Anier. FI. Syl. voi. ii. p. 205, tab. 88. It is the Cerasus serotina , De Cand. 
Prod. vol. ii. p. 540 ; Ehrh. Beit. vol. iii. p. 20 ; Loisel, in Duhamel, ed. nov. 
5, p. 3 ; and of Torrey and Gray’s FI. N. Amer. vol. i. p. 410. It is the 
Prunus serotina , Willd. Spec. ii. p. 986, and Arb. t. 5, f. 2, p. 239 ; and the 
Primus Virginian a , Mill. Diet. n. 2. It should be particularly noticed that the 
Prunus Virginian a , Linn., is not this plant at all, but the Choke Cherry, Cerasus 
Virginian a , De Cand., and Torr. and Gray, vol. i. p. 410; a species which is 
nearly allied to our common Bird Cherry, Cerasus Padus , De Cand. To avoid 
confusion, it would be better to adopt the name of Cerasus or Prunus serotina , 
but as it is officinal in the United States Pharmacopoeia under the name of 
Prunus virginiana , and is commonly applied for under that name, we have used 
both it and the generic one Cerasus as a heading to this paper. In common 
language it has been termed Wild Cherry, Black Cherry, Wild Black Cherry.* * * § 
Etymology. —The origin of the generic name Prunus is wholly unknown. 
According to Theophrastus, it is named in Greek npovvg. The name of Cerasus is 
derived from a town of the same name in Pontus, in Asia, whence the cherry has 
been commonly supposed to have been originally obtained. The specific name 
virginiana is evidently derived from the district in which it was at first known to 
flourish ; that of serotina is from the Latin word serotinus , signifying late, a 
name applied to this species on account of the late ripening of its fruit. The 
origin of the common names of Wild Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, and Black 
Cherry is at once evident. 
Botany.—T he genera Cerasus and Prunus , which are very closely allied, 
indeed frequently included in the same genus by botanists, are placed by Lind- 
leyf in the Natural Order Drupacese. De Candolle, in his ‘ Flore Francaise,’^ 
also placed them in the same Order. Jussieu originally put them into the Order 
llosacese, Suborder Amygdalese ; De Candolle, in his 1 Prodromus,’§ follows 
Jussieu’s arrangement, which is the one now generally adopted by botanists.|| 
Generic Character .— The proper name of this species, as already stated, 
being Cerasus serotina , the following characters apply to that genus and species. 
Cerasus. — Leaves conduplicate in vernation. Pedicels 1-flowered or ramose. 
Calyx inferior, bell-shaped, deciduous, 5-partite. Petals 5, spreading. Stamens 
15-30. Ovary superior. Drupe globose or umbilicate at the bt^e, fleshy, quite 
smooth, and without bloom ; stone ( putamen ), somewhat globose, smooth. 
Specific Character .— Tree varying in height from twenty-five to eighty or 
more feet. Leaves somewhat coriaceous, oval-oblong or lanceolate-oblong, 2-4 
inches long, acuminate, glabrous, or bearded along the midrib beneath, smooth 
and shining above, finely serrated with adpressed or incurved callous teeth ; 
petioles (or base of the leaf) mostly with two or more glands. Racemes elon¬ 
gated, 2-5 inches in length, nodding at their termination. Flowers small, white, 
fragrant. Petals broadly obovate. Drupes globose, purplish black, and shining 
when ripe, and about the size of a pea, edible, although having a slightly astrin¬ 
gent, bitter taste.** 
Habitat .— This species is found more or less plentifully distributed in nearly 
all the States of North America. According to Wood and Bache,ff u this tree 
* Torrey and Gray’s ‘Flora of North America,’ vol. i. p. 410; Gray’s ‘Genera of the 
Plants of the United States,’ vol. iii.; and De Candolle’s ‘ Prodromus,’ pp. 539 and 5 4*J. 
+ ‘Vegetable Kingdom,’ p. 557. J Vol. iv. p. 479 (1805). 
§ De Candolle’s ‘Prodromus,’ vol. ii. pp. 532-535. 
fj Bentley’s ‘ Manual of Botany,’ pp. 533-535. 
Bindley’s ‘ Flora Medica,’ pp. 222-223, and ‘ Medical and Economic Botany,’pp. 181 
and 182; De Candolle’s ‘ Prodromus,’ vol. ii. pp. 532 and 535. 
** De Candolle’s ‘Prodromus,’ vol. ii. p. 540; Torrey and Gray’s ‘Flora of North 
America,’ vol. i. p. 410. 
ft ‘ United States Dispensatoi’y,’ 11th edit. p. 627. 
