Handbook of the Trees of New England Part 25

Small tree, common in Vermont (Brainerd) and occasional in the other New England states.

South to Georgia.

Thorns 1-2 inches long, sometimes branched; leaves 1-2-1/2 inches long, smooth on the upper surface, finally smooth and dull beneath; outline obovate, toothed or slightly lobed above, entire or nearly so beneath, short-pointed or somewhat obtuse at the apex, wedge-shaped at base; leafstalk slender, 1-2 inches long; calyx lobes linear, entire; fruit large, red or yellow.

=Crataegus coccinea, L.=

In view of the fact of great variation in the bark, leaves, inflorescence, and fruit of plants that have all pa.s.sed in this country as _C. coccinea_, and in view of the further uncertainty as to the plant on which the species was originally founded, it seems "best to consider the specimen in the Linnaean herbarium as the type of _C. coccinea_ which can be described as follows:

"Leaves elliptical or on vigorous shoots mostly semiorbicular, acute or ac.u.minate, divided above the middle into numerous acute coa.r.s.ely glandular-serrate lobes, cuneate and finely glandular-serrate below the middle and often quite entire toward the base, with slender midribs and remote primary veins arcuate and running to the points of the lobes, at the flowering time membranaceous, coated on the upper surface and along the upper surface of the midribs and veins with short soft white hairs, at maturity thick, coriaceous, dark green and l.u.s.trous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, glabrous or nearly so, 1-1/2-2 inches long and 1-1-1/2 inches wide, with slender glandular petioles 3/4-1 inch long, slightly grooved on the upper surface, often dark red toward the base, and like the young branchlets villous with pale soft hairs; stipules lanceolate to oblanceolate, conspicuously glandular-serrate with dark red glands, 1/2-3/4 inch long. Flowers 1/2-3/4 inch in diameter when fully expanded, in broad, many-flowered, compound tomentose cymes; bracts and bractlets linear-lanceolate, coa.r.s.ely glandular-serrate, caducous; calyx tomentose, the lobes lanceolate, glandular-serrate, nearly glabrous or tomentose, persistent, wide-spreading or erect on the fruit, dark red above at the base; stamens 10; anthers yellow; styles 3 or 4. Fruit subglobose, occasionally rather longer than broad, dark crimson, marked with scattered dark dots, about 1/2 inch in diameter, with thin, sweet, dry yellow flesh; nutlets 3 or 4, about 1/4 inch long, conspicuously ridged on the back with high grooved ridges.

"A low, bushy tree, occasionally 20 feet in height with a short trunk 8-10 inches in diameter, or more frequently shrubby and forming wide dense thickets, and with stout more or less zigzag branches bright chestnut brown and l.u.s.trous during their first year, ashy-gray during their second season and armed with many stout, chestnut-brown, straight or curved spines 1-1-1/2 inches long. Flowers late in May. Fruit ripens and falls toward the end of October, usually after the leaves.

"Slopes of hills and the high banks of salt marshes usually in rich, well-drained soil, Ess.e.x county, Ma.s.sachusetts, John Robinson, 1900; Gerrish island, Maine, J. G. Jack, 1899-1900; Brunswick, Maine, Miss Kate Furbish, May, 1899; Newfoundland, A. C.

Waghorne, 1894."[1]

[Footnote 1: Prof. C. S. Sargent in _Bot. Gaz._, x.x.xI, 12. By permission of the publishers.]

=Crataegus mollis, Scheele.=

_Crataegus subvillosa, Schr. Crataegus coccinea,_ var. _mollis, T. & G._

THORN.

=Habitat and Range.=--Bordering on low lands and along streams.

Provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

Maine,--as far north as Mattawamkeag on the middle Pen.o.bscot, Dover on the Piscataquis, and Orono on the lower Pen.o.bscot; reported also from southern sections; Vermont,--Charlotte (Hosford); Ma.s.sachusetts,--in the eastern part infrequent; no stations reported in the other New England states.

South to Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Texas; west to Michigan and Missouri.

=Habit.=--Shrub or often a small tree, 20-30 feet high, with trunk 6-12 inches in diameter, often with numerous suckers; branches at 4-6 feet from the ground, at an acute angle with the stem, lower often horizontal or declining; head spreading, widest at base, spray short, angular, and bushy; thorns slender, 1-3 inches long, straight or slightly recurved.

=Bark.=--Bark of the whole tree, except the ultimate shoots, light gray, on the trunk and larger branches separating lengthwise into thin narrow plates, in old trees dark gray and more or less shreddy; season's shoots reddish or yellowish-brown, glossy.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, reddish-brown, s.h.i.+ning; scales broad, glandular-edged. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, light green above, lighter beneath, broad-ovate to broad-elliptical; rather regularly and slightly incised with fine, glandular-tipped teeth; apex acute; base wedge-shaped, truncate, or subcordate; roughish above and slightly p.u.b.escent beneath, especially along the veins; leaf-stalk p.u.b.escent; stipules linear, glandular-edged, deciduous.

=Inflorescence.=--May to June. In cymes from the season's growth; flowers white, 3/4 inch broad, ill-smelling; calyx lobes 5, often incised, p.u.b.escent; petals roundish; stamens indefinite, styles 3-5; flower stems p.u.b.escent; bracts glandular.

=Fruit.=--A drupe-like pome, 1/2-1 inch long, bright scarlet, larger than the fruit of the other New England species; ripens and falls in September.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England. An attractive and useful tree in low plantations; rarely for sale by nurserymen or collectors; propagated from the seed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LX.--Crataegus mollis.]

1. Winter buds.

2. Branch with thorns.

3. Flowering branch.

4. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.

5. Fruiting branch.

=Note.=--The New England plants here put under the head of _Crataegus mollis_ have been referred by Prof. C. S. Sargent to _Crataegus submollis_ (_Bot. Gaz_., x.x.xI, 7, 1901). The new species differs from the true _Crataegus mollis_ in its smaller ovate leaves with cuneate base and more or less winged leafstalk, in the smaller number of its stamens, usually 10, and in its pear-shaped orange-red fruit, which drops in early September.

It is also probable that _C. Arnoldiana_, Sargent, new species, has been collected in Ma.s.sachusetts as _C. mollis_. It differs from _C.

submollis_ "in its broader, darker green, more villose leaves which are usually rounded, not cuneate at the base, in its smaller flowers, subglobose, not oblong or pear-shaped, crimson fruit with smaller spreading calyx lobes, borne on shorter peduncles and ripening two or three weeks earlier, and by its much more zigzag and more spiny branches, which make this tree particularly noticeable in winter, when it may readily be recognized from all other thorn trees."--C. S. Sargent in _Bot. Gaz._, x.x.xI, 223, 1901.

DRUPACEae. PLUM FAMILY.

Trees or shrubs; bark exuding gum; bark, leaves, and especially seeds of several species abounding in prussic acid; leaves simple, alternate, mostly serrate; stipules small, soon falling; leafstalk often with one to several glands; flowers in umbels, racemes, or solitary, regular; calyx tube free from the ovary, 5-lobed; petals 5, inserted on the calyx; stamens indefinite, distinct, inserted with the petals; pistil 1, ovary with 1 carpel, 1-seeded; fruit a more or less fleshy drupe.

=Prunus nigra, Ait.=

_Prunus Americana_, var. _nigra, Waugh._

WILD PLUM. RED PLUM. HORSE PLUM. CANADA PLUM.

=Habitat and Range.=--Native along streams and in thickets, often spontaneous around dwellings and along fences.

From Newfoundland through the valley of the St. Lawrence to Lake Manitoba.

Maine,--abundant in the northern sections and common throughout; New Hamps.h.i.+re and Vermont,--frequent, especially in the northern sections; Ma.s.sachusetts,--occasional; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--not reported.

Rare south of New England; west to Wisconsin.

=Habit.=--A shrub or small tree, 20-25 feet high; trunk 5-8 inches in diameter; branches stout, ascending, somewhat angular, with short, rigid branchlets, forming a stiff, narrow head.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk grayish-brown, smooth in young trees, in old trees separating into large plates; smaller branches dark brown, season's shoots green.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, acute, dark brown.

Leaves 3-5 inches long, light green on the upper side, paler beneath, p.u.b.escent when young; outline ovate-obovate or orbicular, crenulate-serrate; teeth not bristle-tipped; apex abruptly ac.u.minate; base wedge-shaped, rounded, somewhat heart-shaped, or narrowing to a short petiole more or less red-glandular near the blade; stipules usually linear, ciliate, soon falling.

=Inflorescence.=--Appearing in May before the leaves, in lateral, 2-3-flowered, slender-stemmed umbels; flowers about an inch broad, white when expanding, turning to pink; calyx 5-lobed, glandular; petals 5, obovate-oblong, contracting to a claw; stamens numerous; style 1, stigma 1.

=Fruit.=--A drupe, oblong-oval, 1-1-1/2 inches long, orange or orange-red, skin tough, flesh adherent to the flat stone and pleasant to the taste. The fruit toward the southern limit of the species is often abortive, or develops through the growth of a fungus into monstrous forms.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, and will grow, when not shaded, in almost any dry or moist soil. It has a tendency to sucker freely, forming low, broad thickets, especially attractive from their early spring flowers and handsome autumn leaves.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE LXI.--Prunus nigra.]