ith two or more glands
near base of leaf; stipules long, narrow, ciliate, falling when the
leaves expand.

=Inflorescence.=--Appearing in May, a week earlier than _P. serotina_,
terminating lateral, leafy shoots of the season in numerous handsome,
erect or spreading racemes, 2-4 inches long; flowers short-stemmed,
about 1/3 inch across; petals white, roundish; edge often eroded; calyx
5-cleft with thin reflexed lobes, soon falling; stamens numerous; pistil
1; style 1.

=Fruit.=--In drooping racemes; varying from yellow to nearly black,
commonly bright red, edible, but more or less astringent; stem somewhat
persistent after the cherry falls.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; grows in almost
any soil, but prefers a deep, rich, moist loam. Vigorous young trees are
attractive, but in New England they soon begin to show dead branches,
and are so seriously affected by insects and fungous diseases that it is
not wise to use them in ornamental plantations, or to permit them to
remain on the roadside.

[Illustration: PLATE LXIV.--Prunus Virginia.]

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

=Prunus serotina, Ehrh.=

RUM CHERRY. BLACK CHERRY.

=Habitat and Range.=--In all sorts of soils and exposures; open places
and rich woods.

Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.

Maine,--not reported north of Oldtown (Penobscot county); frequent
throughout the other New England states.

South to Florida; west to North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas,
extending through Mexico, along the Pacific coast of Central
America to Peru.

=Habit.=--Usually a medium-sized tree, 30-50 feet in height, with a
trunk diameter varying from 8 or 10 inches to 2 feet; attaining much
greater dimensions in the middle and southern states; branches few,
large, often tortuous, subdividing irregularly; head open, widest near
the base, rather ungraceful when naked, but very attractive when clothed
with bright green, polished foliage, profusely decked with white
flowers, or laden with drooping racemes of handsome black fruit.

=Bark.=--Bark of trunk deep reddish-brown and smooth in young trees, in
old trees very rough, separating into close, thick, irregular, blackish
scales; branches dark reddish-brown, marked with small oblong, raised
dots. Bitter to the taste.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds ovate, 1/8 inch long, covered with