Trees of the Northern United States Part 20

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. avium.]

8. =Prunus avium=, L. (BIRD-CHERRY OR ENGLISH CHERRY.) Leaves oval-lanceolate, sharp-pointed, coa.r.s.ely or doubly serrate. Flowers in sessile umbels, opening when the leaves appear. Fruit of various colors, somewhat heart-shaped. This is the Cherry tree, 30 to 50 ft. high, of which there are many named varieties usually cultivated for the fruit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. Cerasus.]

9. =Prunus Cerasus=, L. (GARDEN RED CHERRY. MORELLO CHERRY.) Leaves obovate and lance-ovate, serrate, on slender spreading branches. Flowers rather large. Fruit globular, bright red to dark purple, very sour; in sessile umbels. A small, round-headed tree, 10 to 30 ft. high, often cultivated. The preceding species and this one are the parents of most of the Cherry trees in cultivation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. serotina.]

10. =Prunus serotina=, Ehrh. (WILD BLACK CHERRY.) Leaves oblong or lance-oblong, thickish, smooth, usually taper-pointed, serrate, with incurved, short, thick teeth. Flowers in long racemes. June. Fruit as large as peas, purple-black, bitter; ripe in autumn. A fine tree, 15 to 60 ft. high, with reddish-brown branches. Wood reddish and valuable for cabinet-work. Common in woodlands and along fences.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. Virginiana.]

11. =Prunus Virginiana=, L. (CHOKE-CHERRY.) Leaves thin, oval-oblong or obovate, abruptly pointed, very sharply, often doubly serrate, with slender teeth. Racemes of flowers and fruit short and close. Fruit dark crimson, stone smooth. Flowers in May; fruit ripe in August; not edible till fully ripe. A tall shrub, sometimes a tree, with grayish bark.

River-banks, common especially northward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. Padus.]

12. =Prunus Padus=, L. (SMALL BIRD-CHERRY.) Like Prunus Virginiana, excepting that the racemes are longer and drooping, and the stone is roughened. Occasionally planted for ornament.

GENUS =37. PYRUS.=

Trees and shrubs, with alternate, stipulate, simple, or pinnately compound leaves. Flowers conspicuous, white to pink, apple-blossom-shaped (5 petals); in spring. Fruit a fleshy pome, with the cells formed by papery or cartilaginous membranes within juicy flesh.

* Leaves deeply pinnatifid or fully pinnate (Mountain Ashes) (=A.=)

=A.= Leaf deeply pinnatifid, sometimes fully divided at the base. 6.

=A.= Leaf once-pinnate throughout. (=B.=)

=B.= Leaf-buds pointed, smooth and somewhat glutinous 7.

=B.= Leaf-buds more or less hairy 8, 9.

* Leaves simple and not pinnatifid. (=C.=)

=C.= Leaves entire; fruit solitary (Quinces) 5.

=C.= Leaves serrate; fruit cl.u.s.tered. (=D.=)

=D.= Fruit large, sunken at both ends (Apples) 1.

=D.= Fruit small (-1 in.), sour, much sunken at the stem end and but little at the other (Crab-apples). (=E.=)

=E.= Leaves very narrow; fruit in. 2.

=E.= Leaves broad; fruit 1 in. 3.

=D.= Fruit usually obovate, not sunken at the stem end (Pears). 4.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. Malus.]

1. =Pyrus Malus=, L. (COMMON APPLE-TREE.) Leaves simple, ovate, evenly crenate or serrate, smooth on the upper surface and woolly on the lower. Flowers large (1 in.), white, tinged with pink, in small corymbs.

May. Fruit large, sunken at both ends, especially at base; ripe from August to October, according to variety. A flat-topped tree, 20 to 40 ft. high, cultivated in hundreds of named varieties; from Europe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. angustiflia.]

2. =Pyrus angustiflia=, Ait. (NARROW-LEAVED CRAB-APPLE.) Leaves simple, lanceolate or oblong, often acute at base, mostly serrate, smooth. Flowers large (2/3 in.), rose-colored, fragrant, in small, simple, umbel-like cl.u.s.ters. Fruit very sour, small ( in.). Twigs lead-colored and speckled. A small tree, 12 to 20 ft. high. Pennsylvania and southward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. coronaria.]

3. =Pyrus coronaria=, L. (AMERICAN OR GARLAND CRAB-APPLE.) Leaves simple, ovate, often rather heart-shaped, cut-serrate, often 3-lobed, soon smooth. Flowers large ( in.), few, in a cl.u.s.ter, rose-colored, very fragrant. Fruit very sour and astringent, flattened, broad, 1 in.

or more in diameter, yellowish green. Small tree, 10 to 25 ft. high; New York, west and south, also frequently cultivated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. communis.]

4. =Pyrus communis=, L. (COMMON PEAR-TREE.) Leaves simple, ovate, serrate, smooth on both sides, at least when mature. Flowers large (over 1 in.), white, with purple anthers. April and May. Fruit large, usually obovate and mainly sunken at the large end; ripe July to October, according to the variety. A pyramidal-shaped tree, 30 to 70 ft. high, with smooth bark and often somewhat th.o.r.n.y branches. Of several hundred named varieties, native to Europe. Cultivated for its fruit. Wood slightly tinged with red; strong, and of fine grain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. vulgaris.]

5. =Pyrus vulgaris.= (QUINCE. COMMON QUINCE-TREE.) Leaves ovate, obtuse at base, entire, hairy beneath. Flowers solitary, large, 1 in., white or pale rose-color. Fruit large, hard, orange-yellow, of peculiar sour flavor; seeds mucilaginous; ripens in October. A low tree, 10 to 20 ft. high, with a crooked stem and rambling branches; from Europe.

Several varieties in cultivation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. pinnatifida.]

6. =Pyrus pinnatifida=, Ehrh. (OAK-LEAVED MOUNTAIN-ASH.) Leaves pinnately cleft and often fully pinnate at base, hairy beneath. Pome globose, in., scarlet, ripe in autumn. A cultivated tree, 20 to 30 ft.

high; from Europe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. Americana.]

7. =Pyrus Americana=, DC. (AMERICAN MOUNTAIN-ASH.) Leaflets 13 to 15, lanceolate, bright green, nearly smooth, taper-pointed, sharply serrate with pointed teeth. Leaf-buds pointed, glabrous and somewhat glutinous.

Flowers white, 1/3 in., in large, flat, compound cymes. In June. Fruit berry-like pomes, the size of small peas, bright scarlet when ripe in September, and hanging on the tree till winter. A tall shrub or tree, 15 to 30 ft. high, in swamps and mountain woods; more abundant northward.

Often cultivated for the showy cl.u.s.ters of berries in autumn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. sambuciflia.]

8. =Pyrus sambuciflia=, Cham. & Schlecht. (ELDER-LEAVED MOUNTAIN-ASH.) Leaflets oblong, oval or lance-ovate, obtuse (sometimes abruptly sharp-pointed), usually doubly serrate with rather spreading teeth, generally pale beneath. Leaf-buds somewhat hairy. Flowers and berries larger, but in smaller cl.u.s.ters, than the preceding species. The berries globose when ripe, 1/3 in. broad, bright red. This species, much like Pyrus Americana, is found wild in northern New England and westward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. aucuparia.]

9. =Pyrus aucuparia=, Gaertn. (EUROPEAN MOUNTAIN-ASH, OR ROWAN-TREE.) Much like Pyrus Americana, but the leaflets are paler and more obtuse, with their lower surface downy. Leaf-buds blunter and densely covered with hairs. Flowers larger, in. or more in diameter. Fruit also much larger, sometimes nearly in. in diameter. Beautiful tree, 20 to 30 ft.

high, often cultivated.

GENUS =38. CRATaeGUS.=

Th.o.r.n.y shrubs or small trees with simple, alternate, serrate, doubly serrate or lobed leaves. Flowers cherry-like blossoms, usually white in color and growing in corymbs, generally on the ends of side shoots; in spring. Fruit a berry or drupe with 1 to 5 bony stones, tipped with the 5 persistent calyx-teeth; ripe in autumn.