onnecticut,--occasional in the
northern sections.

South, in cold swamps and along the mountains to North Carolina;
west to Michigan and Minnesota.

=Habit.=--A small tree, 15-20 feet high, often attaining in the woods of
northern Maine and on the slopes of the White mountains a height of
25-30 feet, with a trunk diameter of 12-15 inches; reduced at its
extreme altitudes to a low shrub; head, in open ground, pyramidal or
roundish; branches spreading and slender.

=Bark.=--Closely resembling bark of _P. sambucifolia_.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.,=--Buds more or less scythe-shaped, acute,
smooth, glutinous. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate; stem grooved,
enlarged at base, reddish-brown above; stipules deciduous; leaflets
11-19, 2-4 inches long, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth,
narrow-oblong or lanceolate, the terminal often elliptical, finely and
sharply serrate above the base; apex acuminate; base roundish to acute
and unequally sided; sessile or nearly so, except in the odd leaflet.

=Inflorescence.=--In terminal, densely compound, large and flattish
cymes; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, white, roundish, short-clawed; stamens
numerous; ovary inferior; styles 3.

=Fruit.=--Round, bright red, about the size of a pea, lasting into
winter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a good,
well-drained soil; rate of growth slow and nearly uniform. It is readily
transplanted and would be useful on the borders of woods, in plantations
of low trees, and in seaside exposures. Rare in nurseries and seldom for
sale by collectors. The readily obtainable and more showy European _P.
aucuparia_ is to be preferred for ornamental purposes.

[Illustration: PLATE LVII.--Pyrus Americana.]

1. Winter buds.
2. Flowering branch.
3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed.
4. Petal.
5. Fruiting branch.

=Pyrus sambucifolia, Cham. & Schlecht.=

_Sorbus sambucifolia, R[oe]m._

MOUNTAIN ASH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Mountain slopes, cool woods, along the shores of
rivers and ponds, often associated with _P. Americana_, but climbing
higher up the mountains.

From Labrador and Nova Scotia west to the Rocky mountains, then
northward along the mountain ranges to Alaska.

Maine,--abundant in Aroostook county, Piscataquis county, Somerset
county at least north to the Moose river, along the boundary mountains,
about the Rangeley lakes and locally on Mount Desert Island; New
H