ly small yet sometimes reaches the height of thirty
feet. It is oftenest found in the woods of the north, but also grows
among the mountains as far south as Tennessee. The bark is a
reddish-brown and has rusty dots over it. The leaves are oblong, pointed
at the tips and rather blunt at the base. They are bright green and
glossy. The white flower is much like the cultivated cherry blossom but
smaller; it grows in clusters. The cherries are light red and about the
size of a pea.

[Illustration: CANADA PLUM

SCARLET HAW

WILD BLACK CHERRY

Fruits found principally in the north and the middle west.]

=Sand-Cherry=

Growing in the sand along our eastern coast as far south as New Jersey
and sometimes on the shores of the Great Lakes, the sand-cherry is
found. It is a low, trailing bush, but in some cases sends up erect
branches as high as four feet. The fruit is dark red--black when quite
ripe--and about half an inch long. It grows in small clusters or
solitary, and is said to be sweet and edible. The leaves, dark green on
the upper side, are lighter underneath; they are rather narrow, broadest
toward the end and tapering at the base. The edge is toothed almost to
the base. The flowers are white and thinly clustered.

=Persimmon=

In the Southern, Western, and Middle States, some say as far north as
New York, grows the _persimmon_. Deliciously sweet and spicy when frost
has ripened it, very astringent until ripe. It is plentiful in Kentucky
and one of my earliest memories is of going to market with my mother in
the fall to buy persimmons. There I learned to avoid the fair, perfect
fruit, though to all appearances it was quite ripe, and to choose that
which looked bruised and broken.

The persimmon is about the size of a plum, but is flattened at the
poles. It grows close to the branch and its calyx is large. The color is
yellow generally flushed with red. Some writers describe it as juicy,
but I would not call it that; the flesh is more like custard or soft
jelly.

The tree usually varies in height from thirty to fifty feet, but in some
places is said to reach one hundred or more feet. The trunk is short and
the branches spreading. In the south it often forms a thicket in
uncultivated fields and along roadsides. The bark is dark brown or dark
gray, the surface is scaly and divided into plates. The leaves are
usually a narrow oval with smooth edges; when matured they are dark
green and glossy on the upper sid