of ruffle.

=Inflorescence.=--May. In crowded spherical heads; flowers of both kinds
with insignificant calyx and corolla,--sterile heads from terminal or
lateral buds of the preceding season, on short and pendulous stems;
stamens few, usually 4, anthers 2-celled: fertile heads from shoots of
the season, on long, slender stems, made up of closely compacted ovate
ovaries with intermingled scales, ovaries surmounted by hairy one-sided
recurved styles, with bright red stigmas.

=Fruit.=--In heads, mostly solitary, about 1 inch in diameter,
persistent till spring: nutlets small, hairy, 1-seeded.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a deep,
rich, loamy soil near water, but grows in almost any situation; of more
rapid growth than almost any other native tree, and formerly planted
freely in ornamental grounds and on streets, but fungous diseases
disfigure it so seriously, and the late frosts so often kill the young
leaves that it is now seldom obtainable in nurseries; usually propagated
from seed. The European plane, now largely grown in some nurseries, is a
suitable substitute.

[Illustration: PLATE LVI.--Platanus occidentalis.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch with sterile and fertile heads.
3. Stamen.
4. Pistil.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Stipule.
7. Bud with enclosing base of leafstalk.

POMACEAE. APPLE FAMILY.

Trees or shrubs; leaves simple or pinnate, mostly alternate, with
stipules free from the leafstalk and usually soon falling; flowers
regular, perfect; calyx 5-lobed; calyx-tube adnate to ovary; petals 5,
inserted on the disk which lines the calyx-tube; stamens usually many,
distinct, inserted with the petals; carpels of the ovary 1-5, partially
or entirely united with each other; ovules 1-2 in each carpel; styles
1-5; fruit a fleshy pome, often berry-like or drupe-like, formed by
consolidation of the carpels with the calyx-tube.

PYRUS. MALUS. AMELANCHIER. CRATAEGUS.

=Pyrus Americana, DC.=

_Sorbus Americana, Marsh._

MOUNTAIN ASH.

=Habitat and Range.=--River banks, cool woods, swamps, and mountains.

Newfoundland to Manitoba.

Maine,--common; New Hampshire,--common along the watersheds of the
Connecticut and Merrimac rivers and on the slopes of the White
mountains; Vermont,--abundant far up the slopes of the Green mountains;
Massachusetts,--Graylock, Wachusett, Watatic, and other mountainous
regions; rare eastward; Rhode Island and C