'94 
ROSACEAE 
leaves oblong-obovate or ovate, 1.8 to 3.6 cm. long; blade with 1 or 2 
glands just above junction with petiole; flowers in short corymbs; drupe 
bright red.—Hills and mountains. 
5. P. demissa Nutt. Choke Cherry. Slender shrub 1.5 to 4 m. high; 
leaves 2.4 to 7.2 cm. long; petioles with 1 or 2 glands near summit; 
flowers in racemes 4.8 to 9.6 cm. long; drupe red or dark purple.—Hills 
and mountains. 
6. P. ilicifolia Nutt. Isi.ay. Evergreen shrub 2 to 5 m. high; leaves 
elliptic or ovate, 2.4 to 4.8 cm. long; flowers 4 mm. long; drupe red 
or dark purple, 12 to 16 mm. thick.—Oakland Hills to S. Cal. 
7. P. domestica L. Common Plum. Tree; leaves ovate or obovate, 
coarsely serrate, usually pubescent beneath, 4.8 to 7.2 cm. long; fruit 
various, but mostly globular or oblong.—Cult, from southwestern Asia. 
The commoner varieties are the Tragedy, Clyman, Wickson, Burbank. 
Greengage and Golden Drop. 
8. P. subcordata Benth. Sierra Plum. Shrub 1 to 2 in. high; leaves 
round to ovate, 5 cm. long or less; flowers 2 to 4 in a cluster; petals 
obovate, 8 mm. long; drupe dark red, 1.8 to 2.4 cm. long; pulp rather 
hard but edible.—Hills and mountains. 
9. P. armeniaca L. Apricot. Tree with reddish bark; leaves ovate 
to round-ovate, abruptly short-pointed, serrate; petioles gland-bearing; 
flowers nearly sessile; fruit when ripe separating from the short stalk: 
stone free, ridged and channeled on one edge.—Native of China, com¬ 
mon in cult. The commoner horticultural varieties are Royal, Pringle, 
Newcastle, Blenheim and Moorpark. 
11. HETEROMELES Roem. 
Evergreen shrub with simple leathery serrate leaves. Flowers numer¬ 
ous, small, white, in a terminal panicle. Stamens 10, in pairs. Pistils 2, 
lightly united and lightly adhering to the fleshy calyx-tube. Fruit a bright 
red berry-like ovoid pome. (Greek heteros, different and melon, an 
apple.) • 
1. H. arbutifolia (Lindl.) Roem. Christmas Berry. Shrub 1 to 4 m. 
high; leaves oblong, acute at each end, 4.8 to 9.6 cm. long; corolla 5 mm. 
broad.—Mountain and hillsides and along streams. Large quantities of 
the fruiting branchlets with their crimson berries are used in Christmas 
decoration. The Spanish-Californians called the shrub Tollon. 
12. PYRITS L. Pear. Apple 
Trees or shrubs with simple leaves and white or pink flowers in 
corymbs. Fruit a 2 to 5-celled pome with 2 seeds in each cell. (The 
Latin name of the pear.) 
1. P. communis L. Common Pear. Tree, the branchlets inclined to 
be thorny; leaves ovate, with small obtuse teeth; flowers white; fruit 
tapering to base.—Cult, from southern Europe and Asia. The most 
COnrmon variety is the Bartlett. 
2. P. malus L. Common Apple. Tree; buds, lower surface of leaves 
(when young) and calyx woolly; leaves ovate or oblong, serrate; flowers 
white, tinged with pink; fruit globose, sunken at both ends.—Cult, from 
Europe and grown in numerous forms. Of the 40 commercial varieties 
