Chapter I: Cultivated Cherries (2)

91. Prunus nipponica Matsumura. _Tokyo Bot. Mag_. =15=:99. 1901.

_Prunus miqueliana_ Koidzumi. _l. c._ =23=:184 (not Maximowicz)
1909.

_Prunus ceraseidos_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersburg_
=29=:103.

_Prunus apetala typica_ Schneider. _Ill. Handb. Laubholzk._
=1=:608. 1906. Japan.

=92. Prunus autumnalis= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:259. 1912.

_Prunus subhirtella autumnalis_ Makino. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._
=22=:117. 1908. Hondo.

=93. Prunus kurilensis= Miyabe. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =24=:11. 1910.

_Prunus ceraseidos kurilensis_ Miyabe. _Mem. Boston Soc. Nat.
Hist._ =4=:226 (Fl. Kurile Isl.) 1890.

_Prunus incisa kurilensis_ Koidzumi. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =23=:184.
1909.

=94. Prunus nikkoensis= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:260. 1912.
Japan.

=95. Prunus miqueliana= Maximowicz. _Bul. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersburg_
=11=:692 (not Schneider) 1883. Japan.

=96. Prunus tschonoskii= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:261. 1912.

_Prunus ceraseidos_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersburg_
=29=:103.

_Prunus apetala iwozana_ Schneider. _Ill. Handb. Laubholzk._
=1=:608. 1906. Japan.

=97. Prunus apetala= (Siebold & Zuccarini) Franchet & Savatier.
_Enum. Pl. Jap._ =2=:329. 1879 (not Zabel, cf. _P. maximowiczii_,
No. 9).

_Ceraseidos apetala_ Siebold & Zuccarini. _Abh. Akad. Münch._
=3=:743. t. 5. 1843.

_Prunus ceraseidos_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersburg_
=29=:103. Japan.

Ser. 5. AMBLYODON.

_98. Prunus gracilifolia_ Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:223. 1912.
Western Hupeh.

=99. Prunus rossiana= Koehne. _l. c._ 223. Western Hupeh.

Div. II. MICROCERASUS (Spach, Roemer) Koehne.

_Cerasus_ sect. Microcerasus Spach. _Hist. Vég._ =1=:423. 1834.

_Microcerasus_ Webb. _Phytogr. Canar._ =2=:19. 1836-40.

Sect. 1. SPIRAEOPSIS Koehne.

Subsect. 1. MYRICOCERASUS Koehne.

=100. Prunus pumila= Linnaeus. _Mant. Pl._ 75. 1767. Eastern North
America.

=101. Prunus besseyi= Bailey. _Bul. Cor. Ex. Sta._ =70=:261. 1894.
Eastern North America.

Subsect. 2. SPIRAEOCERASUS Koehne.

=102. Prunus dictyoneura= Diels. _Bot. Jahrb._ 36, Beibl. 82, 57.
1905. Shensi.

=103. Prunus humilis= Bunge. _Mém. Étr. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersburg_
=2=:97 (_Enum. Pl. Chin. Bor._) 1833.

_Prunus salicina_ Lindley. _Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond._ =7=:239.
1830.

_Prunus bungei_ Walpers. _Rep._ =2=:9 (not Moris) 1893. China.

=104. Prunus glandulosa= Thunberg. _Fl. Jap._ 202. 1784.

_Amygdalus pumila_ Linnaeus. _Mant._ =1=:74. 1767.

_Cerasus glandulosa_ Loiseleur. _Nouv. Duhamel_ =5=:33. 1825.

=Prunus glandulosa glabra= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:263.
1912.

_Prunus japonica glandulosa_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Soc. Nat. Mosc._
=54=:13. 1879. Japan.

=Prunus glandulosa glabra alba= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt.
=2=:263. 1912.

_Prunus japonica_ Lindley. _Bot. Reg._ 8:t. 1801. 1835.

=Prunus glandulosa glabra rosea= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt.
=2=:263. 1912.

_Prunus japonica typica flore roseo_ Maximowicz, in sched.

_Prunus japonica flor. simp._ Tanaka. _Useful Pl. Jap._ 153,
fig. 621. 1895.

_Prunus japonica glandulosa_ Matsumura. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._
=14=:136. 1900. Japan.

=Prunus glandulosa glabra albiplena= Koehne. _Plant Wils._ Pt.
=2=:264. 1912.

_Cerasus japonica multiplex_ Seringe. De Candolle _Prodr._
=2=:539 (in part) 1825.

_Prunus japonica flore pleno_ Siebold & Zuccarini. _Fl. Jap._
=1=:172 t. 90 f. 111. (in part) 1826.

_Prunus japonica_ Oudemans. _Neerlands Plantentuin_ t. 2. 1865.

_Prunus japonica flore albo pleno_ Lemaire. _Ill. Hort._ 5:
t. 183. 1858.

_Prunus japonica_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Soc. Nat. Mosc._ 54. 14
(in part) 1879.

_Prunus japonica multiplex_ Makino. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =22=:72
(in part) 1908. Japan.

=Prunus glandulosa purdomii= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:264.
1912. Northern China.

=Prunus glandulosa trichostyla= Koehne. _l. c._ 224.

=Prunus glandulosa trichostyla faberi= Koehne. _l. c._ 224.

_Prunus japonica_ J. Hutchinson. _Bot. Mag._ 135: t. 8260 (not
Thunberg) 1909. Shantung.

=Prunus glandulosa trichostyla paokangensis= (Schneider) Koehne.
_Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:264. 1912.

_Prunus japonica packangensis_ Schneider. _Fedde Rep. Nov. Sp._
=1=:53. 1905. Western Hupeh.

=Prunus glandulosa trichostyla sinensis= (Persoon) Koehne.
_Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:265. 1912.

_Amygdalus indica nana_ Plukenett. _Phytogr._ 1: t. 11. f. 4
(1691, new edit. 1769).

_Prunus sinensis_ Persoon. _Syn._ =2=:36. 1807.

_Cerasus japonica_ Seringe. De Candolle _Prodr._ =2=:539
(in part) 1825.

_Prunus japonica flore pleno_ Siebold & Zuccarini. _Fl. Jap._
=1=:172 t. 90 f. 111. (in part) 1826.

_Prunus japonica_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Soc. Nat. Mosc._ =54=:14
(in part) 1883. Northern Shensi.

=Prunus glandulosa salicifoli= (Komarov) Koehne. _Plant. Wils._
Pt. =2=:265. 1912.

_Prunus japonica salicifolia_ Komarov. _Act. Hort. Petrop._
=22=:754. 1904. Shing-king.

=105. Prunus pogonostyla= Maximowicz. _Bul. Soc. Nat. Mosc._
=54=:11. 1879.

_Prunus formosana_ Matsumura. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =15=:86. 1901.

=Prunus pogonostyla globosa= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:265.
1912. Formosa.

=Prunus pogonostyla obovata= Koehne. _l. c._ 265. Formosa.

=106. Prunus japonica= Thunberg. _Fl. Jap._ 201. 1784.

_Prunus japonica japonica_ Maximowicz. _Bul. Soc. Nat. Mosc._
=54=:12. 1879.

_Prunus japonica typica_ Matsumura. _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =14=:135.
1900.

=Prunus japonica eujaponica= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:266.
1912.

=Prunus japonica eujaponica fauriei= Koehne. _l. c._ 266. Japan.

=Prunus japonica eujaponica oldhamii= Koehne. _l. c._ 266. Hupeh.

=Prunus japonica gracillima= Koehne. _l. c._ 266.

=Prunus japonica gracillima thunbergii= Koehne. _l. c._ 266.

_Prunus japonica thunbergii_ Koehne. Fedde _Rep. Nov. Sp._
=8=:23. 1910. Cultivated in the Späth Arboretum near Berlin,
received from St. Petersburg.

=Prunus japonica gracillima engleri= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt.
=2=:266. 1912.

_Prunus japonica engleri_ Koehne. _l. c._ 266. Manchuria.

=Prunus japonica gracillima minor= Koehne. _l. c._ 267.
Cultivated in the Späth Arboretum, Berlin.

=Prunus japonica gracillima sphaerica= (Carrière) Koehne.
_l. c._ 267.

_Prunus japonica sphaerica_ Carrière. _Rev. Hort._ 468, fig.
163. 1890.

=Prunus japonica kerii= (Steudel) Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ =Pt.
2=:267. 1912.

_Prunus japonica_ Ker-Gawler. _Bot. Reg._= 1=: t. 27. 1815.

_Amygdalus pumila_ Sims. _Bot. Mag._ =47=: t. 2176. 1820.

_Prunus kerii_ Steudel. _Nomencl. Bot._ ed. 2, 403. 1841, which
cites "_Cerasus" japonica_ Ker-Gawler.

_Prunus japonica typica flore pleno_ Zabel. Beissner, Schelle &
Zabel _Handb. Laubholz-Ben._ 238. 1903. Chekiang. Cultivated
in England.

? =Prunus praecox= Carrière. _Rev. Hort._ 488, fig. 142, 143.
1892. Originated from sowings of _Prunus japonica sphaerica_
and supposed to be _Prunus japonica_ × _domestica._

=107. Prunus nakaii= Léveillé. Fedde _Rep. Nov. Sp._ =7=:198. 1909.
Korea.

=108. Prunus carcharias= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:267. 1912.
Szechuan.

Sect. 2. =AMYGDALOCERASUS= Koehne.

_Cerasus_ sect. _Microcerasus_ Spach.

_Microcerasus_ Webb. _Phytogr. Canar._ =2=:19 (1836-50);
Schneider _Ill. Handb. Laubholzk._ =1=:601. 1906.

_Prunus_ subgen. _Microcerasus_ Focke. Engler & Prantl _Natürl.
Pflanzenfam._ =3=:3, 54. 1888.

_Prunus_ sect. _Trichocerasus_ et subgen. _Microcerasus_ Koehne.
_Deutsche Dendr._ 302, 306. 1893.

=109. Prunus tomentosa= Thunberg. _Fl. Jap._ 203. 1784.--Siebold &
Zuccarini _Fl. Jap._ =1=:51, t. 22. 1826. Japan, western and
northern China.

=Prunus tomentosa spaethiana= Koehne. _Plant. Wils._ =Pt. 2=:269.
1912. Cultivated in European gardens.

=Prunus tomentosa graebneriana= Koehne. _l. c._ 269. Cultivated
near the Botanic Garden, Berlin-Dahlem.

=Prunus tomentosa insularis= Koehne. _l. c._ 269. Japan.
Cultivated in Japan.

=Prunus tomentosa souliei= Koehne. _l. c._ 269. Szechuan.

=Prunus tomentosa kashkarovii= Koehne. _l. c._ 269. Tibet.

=Prunus tomentosa endotricha= Koehne. _l. c._ 225. Western Hupeh.

=Prunus tomentosa breviflora= Koehne. _l. c._ 270. Northern
Shensi.

=Prunus tomentosa trichocarpa= (Bunge) Koehne. _Plant. Wils._
=Pt. 2=:270. 1912.

_Prunus trichocarpa_ Bunge. _Mém. Étr. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersburg_
=2=:96 (_Enum. Pl. Chin. Bor._) 1833. Northern China.

=Prunus tomentosa tsuluensis Koehne.= _Plant. Wils._ Pt. =2=:270.
1912. Northern Shensi.

=Prunus tomentosa heteromera Koehne.= _l. c._ 270. Szechuan.

=110. Prunus batalinii= (Schneider) Koehne. _l. c._ 270.

_Prunus tomentosa_, (?) _Batalinii_ Schneider. Fedde _Rep. Nov.
Sp._ =1=:52. 1905. Szechuan.

=111. Prunus cinerascens= Franchet. _Nouv. Arch. Mus. Paris._ sér. 2,
=8=:216 (_Pl. David._ II. 34) 1885. Western Szechuan.

=112. Prunus jacquemontii= (Edgeworth) Hooke. _Fl. Brit. Ind._
=2=:314. 1878. Afghanistan, Northwestern Himalaya, Tibet.

=113. Prunus incana= (Pallas) Steven. _Mém. Soc. Nat. Mosc._ =3=:263.
1812. Armenia, Georgia, Himalaya? Cf. =Cerasus hippophaeoides=
Bornmüller. _Oester. Bot. Zeit._ =49=:15. 1899. Cappadocia.

=114. Prunus griffithii= (Boissier) Schneider. _Ill. Handb.
Laubholzk._ =1=:606. 1906. Afghanistan.

=115. Prunus prostrata= Labillardière. _Icon. Pl. Syr._ =1=:15, t. 6.
1791. Southern Europe, Crete, Algier, Western Asia to Persia and
Syria. Cf. =Prunus bifrons= Fritsch. _Sitz. Akad. Wien_ =101=: pt.
1. 636, t. 3, fig. 1. 1892. Himalaya?

=116. Prunus brachypetala= (Boissier) Walpers. _Ann._ =1=:272.
1848-49. Southern Persia.

=117. Prunus microcarpa= C. A. Meyer. _Verz. Pfl. Caucas. Casp._ 166.
1831. Caucasia, Northern Persia. Cf. =Cerasus tortuosa= Boissier &
Haussknecht. Boissier _Fl. Or._ =2=:647. 1872. Antilibanon,
Cappadocia, Kurdistan.

=118. Prunus verrucosa= Franchet. _Ann. Sci. Nat. sér._ 6, =16=:280.
1883. Turkestan. Cf. =Prunus calycosus= Aitchison & Hemsley.
_Trans. Linn. Soc._ =3=:61, t. 8. 1888. Afghanistan.

=119. Prunus diffusa= (Boissier & Haussknecht) Schneider. _Ill. Handb.
Laubholzk._ =1=:606. 1906. Southwestern Persia.

The geographical distribution of these cherries is most interesting.[5] From North America come but five species of cherries but two of which, _Prunus besseyi_ and _Prunus pumila_, furnish food and these two as yet are but sparingly grown; all five, however, are more or less used as stocks.

Greene[6] has described, in addition to the five accepted ones, eleven new species of true cherries from the far west of the type of _Prunus emarginata_, some of which at least have furnished food to the Indians, miners and trappers and may have horticultural possibilities for the desert regions in which they are found either for fruit or as stocks.

From the western portion of the Old World, including all of Europe, northern Africa, Asia Minor, Persia, Turkestan and Afghanistan come 14 species. From this region, though the number of species as compared with East Asia is small, we have all of the cultivated esculent cherries, if possibly _Prunus tomentosa_ be excepted. Though nearly all of the species of this large territory are found--possibly all originated there--in the southeastern part of Europe and the adjoining southwestern part of Asia, yet they seem, with one or two exceptions, to be quite distinct from the species of the eastern half of the Old World--the Himalaya Mountains separating the two regions. It is probable that when west central Asia has been as well explored botanically as the east central part of the continent, many new species will be added to Prunus and its sub-genus Cerasus.

It is in the eastern half of the Old World that the cherry flora is richest. More than 100 of the 119 species of Cerasus recognized by Koehne are found in the Himalaya Mountains and the region to the east including Japan and the Kuril Islands. Yet out of all of this wealth of raw material only _Prunus tomentosa_ has been truly domesticated as an esculent though possibly a score of these species are well-known ornamentals. Of the 100 eastern Asiatic species about 75 belong to China--the remainder to Formosa, Siam and Japan with its islands. Happily these Chinese cherries are being introduced, but a few at a time, it is true, to Europe and America and it can hardly be otherwise than that they will enrich horticulture as they are domesticated, hybridized or used as a consort upon which to grow the cherries now known to cultivation. In particular, it may be expected that cherries for the cold north and the bleak plains of our continent will be evolved from the Asiatic species better suited to these regions than the cultivated cherries we now grow.

The number and diversity of the species of cherries which this brief review of Cerasus shows to exist suggest that our cultivated cherry flora is but begun. There can be no question but that others of these species than the few that have been domesticated will yield to improvement under cultivation and furnish refreshing fruits. It is just as certain that new types, as valuable perhaps as the hybrid Dukes we now have, can be produced through hybridization. In North America, we have no satisfactory stock for cultivated Sweet and Sour Cherries. Both of the stocks now commonly used, the Mazzard and the Mahaleb, as we shall see, have weaknesses that unfit them for general use. Surely out of the great number of forms we have just listed a better stock than either of the two named can be found. No doubt, too, many of these new species, even though they do not furnish food, will prove valuable timber or ornamental trees.

We are ready now for a more detailed discussion of the cultivated species of cherries.

[3] The leaves are conduplicate in vernation in a few species of
American plums; these species are intermediate between plums and
cherries.

[4] The species are given as classified by Koehne, _Plantae
Wilsonianae_ Pt. =2=:237-271. 1912. The liberty has been taken of
changing the form of Koehne's citations to conform to that used
at this Station. For the sake of brevity some of the citations
of the original author have been omitted. Space does not permit
the publication of Koehne's system of classification. This may be
found in _Plantae Wilsonianae_ Pt. =2=:226-237. 1912.

Conservative botanists will hardly accept all of Koehne's species,
in describing which the author tells us he labored under the
difficulty of paucity of material and that as more material comes
to hand there must, therefore, be revisions. These species are
provisionally accepted in _The Cherries of New York_ under the
belief that botany and horticulture are best served by giving
names freely so that all forms to which reference may need to be
made may thus be better identified.

The botanical student of Cerasus is referred to Schneider's
comprehensive discussion of Prunus in his _Handbuch der
Laubholzkunde_ =1=:589-637. 1906 and =2=:973-993; also Koehne's
monographs of Cerasus, Sargent, C. S., _Plantae Wilsonianae_ Pt.
=2=:197-271. 1912. Profitable though it might be, space does not
permit in _The Cherries of New York_ a botanical discussion of
other than the species cultivated for their fruits.

[5] Koehne has presented the results of a careful study of the
distribution of cherries in _Mitt. Deutsch. Dendr. Ges._ 168-183.
1912.

[6] Greene (_Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash._ =18=:55-60. 1905), preferring
Cerasus to Prunus as a generic name for racemose cherries, gives
the following new species: _Cerasus californica_ (_Fl. Francis_.
50. 1891) from the hills of middle western California; _Cerasus
crenulata_ from the Mongolian Mountains, New Mexico; _Cerasus
arida_ inhabiting the borders of the desert at the eastern base
of the San Bernardino Mountain, California; _Cerasus prunifolia_
found in the mountains of Fresno County, California; _Cerasus
rhamnoides_ collected at Mud Springs, Amador County, California;
_Cerasus kelloggiana_ from the middle Sierra Nevada Mountains in
California; _Cerasus padifolia_ collected in the foothills near
Carson City, Nevada; _Cerasus obliqua_ described from a single
specimen from Oroville, California; _Cerasus parviflora_ known
only from Mt. Shasta, California; _Cerasus obtusa_ from the arid
interior of southeastern Oregon; and _Cerasus trichopetala_ found
at Columbia Falls, Montana. The type specimens of these eleven
species are in the National Herbarium at Washington.

PRUNUS CERASUS Linnaeus.

I. Linnaeus _Spec. Pl._ 474. 1753.

_P. austera._ 2. Ehrhart _Beitr._ =5=:160. 1790.

_P. acida._ 3. Ehrhart _l. c._ 1790.

_P. aestiva._ 4. Salisbury _Prodr._ 356. 1796.

_P. plena._ 5. Poiret, in Lamarck _Enc. Méth. Bot._ =5=:671. 1804.

_P. rosea._ 6. Poiret, in Lamarck _l. c._ 1804.

_P. Juliana._ 7. Reichenbach _Fl. Germ. Exc._ 643. 1832, not
Poiret in Lamarck, 1805.

_P. hortensis._ 8. Persoon _Syn. Pl._ =2=:34. 1807.

_P. Marasca._ 9. Reichenbach _Fl. Germ. Exc._ 644. 1832.

_P. oxycarpa._ 10. Bechstein _Forst. Bot._ =5=:424. 1843.

_P. vulgaris._ 11. Schur _Enum. Pl. Transsilv._ 954. 1866.

_Cerasus vulgaris._ 12. Miller _Gard. Dict._ ed. 8:No. 1. 1768.

_C. hortenses._ 13. Miller _l. c._ No. 3. 1768.

_C. acida._ 14. Borkhausen, in Roemer _Arch. Bot._ =1=:11, 38.
1796.

_C. austera._ 15. Borkhausen, in Roemer _l. c._ 1796.

_C. Caproniana._ 16. De Candolle _Fl. Fran._ ed. 3, =4=:842. 1805.

_C. nicotianaefolia._ 17. Hort. ex De Candolle _Prodr._ =2=:536.
1825.

_C. bigarella._ 18. Dumortier _Fl. Belg._ 91. 1827.

_C. effusa._ 19. Host _Fl. Austr._ =2=:6. 1831.

_C. Marasca._ 20. Host _l. c._ 1831.

_C. Bungei._ 21. Walpers _Rep._ =2=:9. 1843.

_C. Heaumiana._ 22. Roemer _Syn. Rosifl._ 69. 1847.

_C. tridentina._ 23. Roemer _l. c._ 76. 1847.

_C. Rhexii._ 24. Hort. Gall. ex Van Houtte _Fl. Serres, sér._ 2,
=7=:159. 1868.

_C. cucullata._ 25. Hort. ex Koch _Dendrol._ =1=:6. 1869.

Tree low, reaching a height of twenty to thirty feet, diffuse,
open-headed, round-topped or spreading, often without a central
leader; trunk at maturity a foot in diameter; bark reddish-brown
overlaid with ashy-gray, smooth or sometimes roughened; branches
spreading, slender and more or less drooping; branchlets slender
and willowy, glabrous, reddish-brown becoming darker and
overspread with ashy-gray; lenticels small, numerous, conspicuous,
raised.

Leaves resinous at opening, more or less erect, very numerous,
three to four inches long and from one-half to two inches wide,
obovate to oval, folded upward, thick and firm in texture; upper
surface dark green, smooth, the lower surface paler green, with
more or less pubescence; apex taper-pointed or acute, base abrupt
or acute; margins finely serrate, often doubly so, teeth tipped
with small, dark glands; petioles from a half-inch to two inches
long, slender, grooved, with a few hairs on the upper surface,
tinged with red; glands from one to four, usually small, variously
colored, globose or reniform, usually at the base of the blade;
stipules small, lanceolate, narrow, finely serrate, early caducous.

Winter-buds small, short, obtuse or pointed, plump and free,
arranged singly or in clusters; leaf-scars usually prominent;
flowers appearing with or after the leaves, showy, an inch
across, white; borne in dense or scattered, very scaly clusters
and in twos, threes and fours on one-year-old wood; pedicels
from a half to an inch and a half in length, slender, green and
glabrous; calyx-tube obconic, glabrous, green or tinged with red;
calyx-lobes broadly obtuse or acute, glabrous on both surfaces,
reflexed, margin serrate, faintly red; petals white, roundish or
oval to obovate, entire or crenate, sessile or nearly so; stamens
about thirty, filaments one-fourth of an inch in length; anthers
yellow; pistils about as long as the stamens, glabrous.

Fruit roundish-oblate or cordate, sides slightly compressed,
about three-fourths of an inch in diameter; suture lacking or
indistinct; cavity well marked, usually abrupt; apex usually
depressed; color from light to dark red; dots numerous, small,
russet, more or less conspicuous; stem slender, from a half-inch
to two inches in length, glabrous, without bloom; skin usually
separating readily from the pulp; flesh dark red, with dark
colored juice or pale yellow with colorless juice, tender,
melting, sprightly, more or less acidulous, sometimes astringent;
stone free or more or less clinging, roundish, pointed or blunt,
smooth, less than a half inch in diameter; ventral suture usually
ridged, sometimes smooth.

The numerous synonyms of _Prunus cerasus_ indicate the state of confusion which prevails in the scientific nomenclature of the Sour Cherry. Yet the names given are scarcely a tithe of those that have been discarded or superseded for a whole or a part of this species by botanists. Happily, there is no language in which there is a possibility of confusing the Sour Cherry with the other two or three species of cultivated cherries if the common names be used. That men, learned or unlearned, speaking in their mother tongues distinguish species of cherries so readily by their common names, is ample excuse for not attempting to give in a pomological work all of the Latin names of the Sour Cherry that have been used by the many men who have at one time or another attempted to classify the plants in Prunus. Those here published are from botanists who have contributed most to the knowledge of the species.

_Prunus cerasus_ is the Sour Cherry, or Pie Cherry, of many languages--grown and esteemed in temperate climates the world over and probably the most widely distributed of all tree fruits. The species is found truly wild, as we have set forth in detail in the following chapter, in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. It is a frequent escape from cultivation, multiplying from seed distributed by birds or human agencies or growing from suckers which spring so freely from the roots as to make the species unfit for a stock in orchard work. The number of cultivated varieties of _Prunus cerasus_ listed in _The Cherries of New York_ is 270. Sour Cherries cultivated for their fruits constitute two distinct groups, each of which is again divided into many varieties. The two groups vary more or less in both tree and fruit but have a constant difference only in a single, very easily distinguished character--the juice in the fruits of one is red, in the other it is colorless.

The cherries with colorless juice are the Amarelles, from the Latin for bitter, a term probably first used by the Germans but now in general use wherever these cherries are grown, though the English often designate them as Kentish cherries and the French as Cerisier Commun. These Amarelles are pale red fruits, more or less flattened at the ends. Despite the derivation of the name Amarelle, they have less bitterness than the other group of varieties of the Sour Cherry. They are also less acid than the darker colored cherries and are therefore more suitable for eating out of hand while the dark colored cherries are almost exclusively culinary fruits. The common representatives of this group are Early Richmond, Montmorency and the various cherries to which the word Amarelle is affixed, as the King Amarelle and the Späte Amarelle.

The second group, varieties with reddish juice and usually with very dark fruits which are more spherical or cordate in shape than the Amarelles, comprises the Morellos of several languages or the Griottes of the French. The first of these terms has reference to the color, the word Morello coming from the Italian meaning blackish while Griotte, from the French, probably is derived through agriotte from aigre, meaning sharp, in reference to the acidity of these cherries. Weichsel is the German group name for these cherries, rather less commonly used than the other two terms. The trees of the Morello-like varieties are usually smaller, bushier and more compact than those of the Amarelles. The branches, as a rule, are more horizontal, often drooping, are less regularly arranged and are more slender. The leaves, in typical varieties, are smaller, thinner, a darker green and are pendant while those of the Amarelles are either inclined to be upright or horizontal; the leaves are also toothed less deeply and more regularly. These differences in the leaves are well shown in the color-plates of the varieties of the two groups. There are differences, also, in the inflorescence and the floral organs in the extreme types but these disappear in the varieties that connect the two forms. The typical varieties of this group are English Morello, Ostheim, Olivet, Brusseler Braune, Vladimir and Riga.

Attempts to give precise distinctions between the fruits and trees of the two groups fail because the varieties constituting them hybridize freely making it impossible, with the more or less blended characters, to classify accurately. The group name indicates but little more than whether the cherries have a colored or a colorless juice--a distinction well worth while for the fruit-grower.

Ehrhart called Sour Cherries with colorless juice _Prunus acida_ and those with dark colored juice _Prunus austera_. To some extent botanists have followed Ehrhart's designations. Linnaeus thought the two groups sufficiently distinct to be botanical varieties of the species and denominated the cherry with colorless juice _Prunus cerasus caproniana_ and the one with colored juice _Prunus cerasus austera_.

A third division of the species is the Marasca cherry from which is made maraschino, a distilled liqueur much used in Europe as a drink and in Europe and America in the manufacture of maraschino cherries. The Marasca cherry is a native of the province of Dalmatia, Austria, where the trees grow wild and are now sparingly cultivated. In 1831 Host gave this form the name _Cerasus marasca_ and a year later Reichenbach described it as _Prunus marasca_. Botanists now very generally include it in the species under discussion and Schneider[7] makes it a botanical variety, _Prunus cerasus marasca_, a disposition which we believe to be the best. The Marasca cherries differ from the other cultivated forms chiefly in the greater vigor of the trees, relatively finer serrations of the leaves, longer stipules and a more compact inflorescence. The fruits are much smaller than in the common Sour Cherries, are deep red or almost black in color and have intensely red flesh and juice. The cherries are very acid with a bitter taste that gives flavor to the maraschino made from them.

Besides these divisions of the species cultivated for their fruits botanists describe several botanical forms which either have no horticultural value or are cultivated exclusively as ornamentals. It is not necessary to discuss these in a pomological work. Of these botanical derivatives of _Prunus cerasus_, Schneider enumerates nine and three hybrids between this and other species.[8]

[7] Schneider, C. K. _Handb. Laubh_. =1=:615. 1906.

[8] Schneider, C. K. _Handb. Laubh._ =1=:1906; =2=:1912.

PRUNUS AVIUM Linnaeus.

1. Linnaeus _Fl. Suec._ ed. =2=:165. 1755.

_P. nigricans_. 2. Ehrhart _Beitr._ =7=:126. 1792.

_P. varia_. 3. Ehrhart _l. c._ 127. 1792.

_P. sylvestris_. 4. Persoon _Syn. Pl._ =2=:35. 1807.

_P. dulcis_. 5. Miller ex Reichenbach _Fl. Germ. Exc._ 644. 1832.

_Cerasus nigra_. 6. Miller _Gard. Dict._ ed. 8: No. 2. 1768.

_C. Avium_. 7. Moench _Méth._ 672. 1794.

_C. varia_. 8. Borkhausen, in Roemer _Arch._ 1., =2=:38. 1796.

_C. Juliana_. 9. De Candolle _Fl. Fran._ =4=:483. 1805.

_C. duracina_. 10. De Candolle _l. c._ 1805.

_C. rubicunda_. 11. Bechstein _Forstb._ 160, 335. 1810.

_C. intermedia_. 12. Host _Fl. Austr._ =2=:7. 1831, not Loisel. in
Duham. 1812.

_C. decumana_. 13. Delaunay ex Seringe, in De Candolle _Prodr._
=2=:536. 1825.

_C. macrophylla_. 14. Sweet Hort. _Brit. ed._ =1=:485. 1827.

_C. dulcis_. 15. Borkhausen ex Steudel _Nom. Bot._ ed. sec.,
=1=:331. 1840.

_C. pallida_. 16. Roemer _Syn. Rosifl._ 69. 1847.

_C. heterophylla_. 17. Hort. ex Koch _Dendrol._ =1=:106. 1869.

_C. asplenifolia_. 18. Hort. ex Koch _l. c._ 1869.

_C. salicifolia_. 19. Hort. ex Koch _l. c._ 1869, not Ser. in De
Candolle. 1825.

Tree reaching a height of thirty to forty feet, vigorous,
upright-spreading, open-topped, semi-hardy, usually with a central
leader; trunk a foot or more in diameter roughened; branches
rather stocky, smooth, dull ash-gray, with few small lenticels;
branchlets thick, long, with long internodes, grayish-brown,
smooth, with small, inconspicuous lenticels.

Leaves resinous at opening, more or less drooping, numerous,
four to six inches long, two to three inches wide, strongly
conduplicate, oblong-ovate, thin; upper surface dark green, rugose
or sometimes smooth; lower surface dull green, more or less
pubescent; apex acute, base more or less abrupt; margin coarsely
and doubly serrate, glandular; petiole one and three-fourths
inches long, slender, dull red, with from one to three small,
globose, reddish glands on the stalk; stipules small, lanceolate,
finely serrate, early caducous.

Buds rather small, of medium length, pointed, appressed or
free, arranged singly or in small, scaly clusters at the tips
of branchlets or on short spurs; leaf-scars prominent; blooming
with or after the leaves; flowers white, one and one-quarter
inches across; in clusters of two or three; pedicels one inch
long, slender, glabrous; calyx-tube green or with a faint red
tinge, brownish-yellow within, campanulate; calyx-lobes faintly
tinged with red, long, acute, margin serrate, glabrous within and
without, reflexed; petals oval, entire or crenate, tapering to a
short, blunt claw; stamens nearly one-half inch long, thirty-five
or thirty-six; anthers yellow; pistil glabrous, shorter than the
stamens.

Fruit ripening in early July; about an inch in diameter, cordate;
cavity deep, wide, abrupt; suture a line; apex roundish or
pointed; color ranging from yellow through red to purplish-black;
dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem tinged with
red, one and one-half inches long, adherent to the fruit; skin
toughish, adherent to the pulp; flesh yellow, red, or dark purple
with colorless or colored juice, tender to firm, sweet; stone
semi-clinging, three-eighths of an inch long, not as wide as long,
elliptical, flattened, blunt, with smooth surfaces.

Through its cultivated varieties _Prunus avium_ is everywhere known in temperate climates as the Sweet Cherry. In the wild state it is variously called Mazzard, Bird, Wild, Crab and the Gean cherry. It is not as hardy a species as _Prunus cerasus_ and is, therefore, less generally grown but still is a favorite orchard, dooryard and roadside plant in all mid-temperate regions. It refuses to grow, however, in the warmest and coldest parts of the temperate zones. Wherever the species thrives as an orchard plant it is to be found growing spontaneously along fences and roadsides and in open woods from seeds distributed by birds. The fruits of these wild Sweet Cherries are usually small and the flesh thin and dry, often unpalatable; but, on the other hand, trees are sometimes found as escapes from cultivation which rival in their products the orchard-grown cherries. It is from reverted seedlings that the description of the species herewith given has been made. The number of cultivated varieties of _Prunus avium_ listed in _The Cherries of New York_ is 549.

The habitat of the species and its history as a cultivated plant are given in the following chapter. A further point of horticultural interest as regards its habitat is that wherever found truly wild, as in its original home in southern and central Europe and Asia Minor, it is to be found in moderately dry, calcareous soils and seldom in the shade, preferring always warm, sunny sites, as gravelly or stony hillsides. These predilections cling to the species in its cultivated varieties. _Prunus avium_ differs from _Prunus cerasus_ in an important horticultural character as the two species grow spontaneously--the former suckers from the root little or not at all, making it a suitable plant for a stock in orchard work, while the latter suckers so much as to make it unfit for use as a stock.

_Prunus avium_ is variously divided by botanists and pomologists. Whatever distinct forms of the species may exist in the wild state, they are now interminably confused by hybridization under cultivation. It is impossible to divide the species into botanical varieties from the characters of the horticultural varieties, as many botanists have attempted to do. The species can be roughly divided into two pomological groups, the distinguishing character being the texture of the flesh.

Sweet Cherries with soft, tender flesh form one group known by pomologists under the French group name Guigne or the English Gean. These are also the Heart cherries of common parlance. These soft-fruited cherries may again be divided into dark colored varieties with reddish juice and light colored sorts with colorless juice. Typical light colored Geans are Coe, Ida, Elton and Waterloo; dark colored ones are Black Tartarian, Early Purple and Eagle. It is to this group of cherries that Linnaeus gave the varietal name _Juliana_ and De Candolle the specific name _Cerasus Juliana_.

The second group is distinguished by the firm, breaking flesh of the fruits--the Bigarreaus of several languages, the name originally having reference to the diverse colors of the fruits. This group is further divisible in accordance with color of fruit and juice into black Bigarreaus and light Bigarreaus. Chief of the black cherries falling into this division are Windsor, Schmidt and Mezel; of the light ones, which are much more numerous, Yellow Spanish and Napoleon are representative sorts. Linnaeus called these hard-fleshed cherries _Prunus avium duracina_; De Candolle called them _Cerasus duracina_; K. Koch, _Prunus avium decumana_; and Roemer, _Cerasus bigarella_.

Besides these two orchard forms of _Prunus avium_ several other horticultural forms, quite as distinct or even more so, are grown as ornamentals, some of which are listed as distinct species or as botanical varieties of _Prunus avium_. To add to the confusion, a number of Latinized garden names are more or less commonly applied to these ornamental Sweet Cherries. Schneider,[9] in revising the genus Prunus, names four botanical forms of _Prunus avium_ and two natural hybrids with other species.

[9] Schneider, C. K. _Handb. Laubh._ =1=:1906; =2=:1912.

PRUNUS AVIUM × PRUNUS CERASUS

The Duke cherries, long placed by most pomologists and botanists in a botanical variety of _Prunus avium_, are unquestionably hybrids between the Sweet Cherry and the Sour Cherry. A study of the characters of the varieties of the Duke cherries shows all gradations between _Prunus cerasus_ and _Prunus avium_, though, in the main, they resemble the latter more than the former, differing from the Sweet Cherries most noticeably in having an acid flesh. Sterility is a common attribute of hybridism. In this respect the Dukes behave like most hybrids. In several Duke cherries all of the seeds collected at this Station are sterile; in others, most of them are sterile and in none are the seeds as fertile as in varieties known to be pure bred as to species. So, too, shrunken pollen grains indicate hybridity. A study of the pollen of the Duke cherries shows many grains, the greater proportion, to be abnormal, a condition not found in the pollen of varieties true to species. May Duke, Reine Hortense and Late Duke are the leading hybrid varieties.

There are dark colored Duke cherries with reddish juice and light colored sorts with uncolored juice, just as in the two parent species. May Duke is a typical variety with colored juice while Reine Hortense is probably the best-known cherry among these hybrids with uncolored juice. About 65 of the cherries listed in _The Cherries of New York_ are "Dukes," or hybrids between the Sweet and the Sour Cherry.

The name Duke comes from the variety May Duke which is a corruption of Médoc, a district in the department of Geronde, France, from whence this variety came. The cherries of this group are known as Dukes only in England; in France the name Royale is similarly used.

These hybrid cherries have been placed in a distinct botanical group by several botanists. They constitute the _Cerasus regalis_ Poiteau and Turpin (_Traite des Arb. Fruit_. 123); the _Cerasus bigarella regalis_ Roemer (_Syn. Monogr_. =3=:69); and the _Prunus avium regalis_ Bailey (Cyc. _Am. Hort_. 1453. 1901).

PRUNUS MAHALEB Linnaeus.

1. Linnaeus _Sp. Pl._ 474. 1753. 2. Bailey _Cyc. Am. Hort._
=3=:1451. 1901. 3. Schneider _Handb. Laubh._ =1=:617. 1906.

_Cerasus mahaleb._ 4. Miller _Gard. Dict._ ed. 8: No. 4. 1759.

_Padus mahaleb._ 5. Borkhausen _Handb. Forstb._ =2=:1434. 1803.

Tree small, slender, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped;
branches roughened, ash-gray over reddish-brown; branchlets
numerous, slender and firm-wooded, with short internodes, dull
gray, glabrous, with very numerous large, raised lenticels.

Leaves numerous, an inch in length, one and one-fourth inches
wide, ovate to obovate, thick, leathery; upper surface dark green,
glossy, smooth; lower surface light green, slightly pubescent
along the midrib; apex and base abrupt; margin finely crenate,
with reddish-brown glands; petiole one-half inch long, slender,
greenish, with none or with from one to three small, globose,
greenish glands variable in position.

Buds small, short, obtuse, appressed or free, arranged singly as
lateral buds and in clusters on small, slender spurs; flowers
appearing late, after the leaves, small, averaging one-half
inch across, white, fragrant; borne in clusters of six to eight
scattered on a main stem an inch in length, with the terminal
pedicels one-quarter inch long and basal pedicels one-half inch
long; pedicels slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green,
campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, entire, glabrous,
reflexed; petals white, small, separated, ovate, tapering to
short, narrow claws; filaments one-fourth inch long; pistil
glabrous, about equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures about the middle of July; very small, one-fourth
inch long, one-third inch wide, roundish-ovate; cavity shallow
and abrupt; suture shallow or a mere line; apex roundish to
slightly pointed, with stigma usually adherent; color black;
stem slender, length of corymb about one and one-half inches;
length of fruit-stem about one-quarter inch; skin thick, tough;
flesh reddish-black, with scant reddish-black juice, tender and
soft, very astringent, sour, not edible; stone free or nearly so,
very small, averaging nine thirty-seconds inch long and seven
thirty-seconds inch wide, ovate, slightly flattened, with pointed
apex; ventral suture prominent.

_Prunus mahaleb_ is now a wild inhabitant of all southern Europe as far north as central France, southern Germany, Austria-Hungary and eastward through Asia Minor and Caucasia to and within the borders of Turkestan. Wherever it grows spontaneously in the Old World it is said to prefer rocky, gravelly, sunny slopes and the climate in which the grape thrives best. Wild or cultivated, the Mahaleb is a shallow-rooted plant, a fact that must be taken into consideration in its use as a stock. _Prunus mahaleb_ is a common escape from cultivation in eastern North America especially about the nursery centers of central New York.

The Mahaleb, or St. Lucie cherry, is of no importance to fruit-growers for its fruit but as a consort with nearly all of the Sweet and Sour Cherries now being propagated in North America it becomes of prime importance and so receives botanical consideration here. According to Schneider, in the reference cited, there are several spontaneous forms of _Prunus mahaleb_ and also several horticultural varieties grown as ornamentals. None of these, wild or cultivated, are of interest to fruit-growers, unless, perchance some one of them should prove to be a better stock upon which to work orchard cherries. Mahaleb stocks are usually grown as seedlings but may also be propagated from root cuttings.

The wood of the Mahaleb tree is of value in cabinet making, possessing among other good qualities a pleasant and lasting odor. The leaves, too, are odoriferous and are more or less used in France in the manufacture of perfumes and in cookery to give savor to sauces.

PRUNUS TOMENTOSA Thunberg.

1. Thunberg _Fl. Jap._ 203. 1784. 2. _Jack Garden & Forest_
=5=:580, fig. 99. 1892. 3. Bailey _Cyc. Am. Hort._ =3=:1451. 1901.
4. Schneider _Handb. Laubh._ =1=:601. 1906. 5. Koehne _Plantae
Wilsonianae_ Pt. =2=:268. 1912.

_Cerasus tomentosa._ 6. Wallich _Cat._ No. 715. 1829.

A dwarfish, bush-like plant attaining a height of ten or twelve
feet, vigorous, dense-topped, hardy; trunk and branches stocky;
branches smooth, grayish-brown; branchlets many, of medium
thickness and length, thickly overspread with short pubescence,
with short internodes, roughish, with a few large, raised
lenticels near the base.

Leaves numerous, two and one-eighth inches long, one and one-half
inches wide, folded upward or flattened, broad-oval to obovate,
velvety; upper surface dull, dark green, rugose; lower surface
thickly pubescent, with a prominent midrib and veins; apex
abruptly pointed; margin serrate; petiole three-sixteenths inch in
length, reddish, pubescent, of medium thickness, with from twelve
to fourteen small, globose, yellow glands, usually at the base of
the blade.

Buds very small, short, pointed, free, arranged as lateral buds
and in clusters on small, short spurs; leaf-scars not prominent;
season of bloom early; flowers appear with the leaves, white,
thirteen-sixteenths inch across; borne singly or in pairs;
pedicels short, thick, glabrous; calyx-tube reddish, campanulate,
glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, serrate, slightly pubescent,
erect; petals white, roundish-ovate, entire, with short claws;
anthers tinged with red; pistil pubescent at the base, longer than
the stamens, often defective.

Fruit matures in mid-season; a half-inch in diameter, roundish,
slightly compressed; cavity deep, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow;
apex depressed, with adherent stigma; color currant-red; dots
numerous, small, grayish, obscure; stem thickish, one-eighth to
one-quarter of an inch in length, pubescent; skin thick, tender,
adheres slightly to the pulp, covered with light pubescence; flesh
light red, with light red juice, stringy, melting, sprightly,
sour; good in quality; stone clinging, one-quarter of an inch
long, one-eighth inch wide, oval, slightly pointed, with smooth
surfaces.

The habitat of _Prunus tomentosa_ is probably Central Asia though it is now to be found growing spontaneously in East Tibet and the Chinese provinces of Setschuan, Hupe, Kansu and perhaps Tochlii.

This shrub-like cherry is very generally cultivated in central, eastern and northern China and in Japan for its fruit and as an ornamental. It has been introduced into cultivation in many widely separated places in North America and appears to be promising for cold regions, both bud and wood withstanding perfectly the most rigorous climates of the United States. As it grows in America it is a bush and never a true tree. It is a twiggy, close-jointed plant, usually with many stems springing from the ground and these bearing branches quite to the base. Frequently these low-growing branches bend to the ground and take root forming new plants. The bushes are thickly clothed with leaves densely tomentose on the underside, in this respect and in shape, as well, very unlike the foliage of common cultivated cherries. The flowers appear in great abundance with the leaves, making a handsome ornamental; they are white, becoming rose-colored as they fall away. The fruit ripens in mid-season for cherries, setting profusely from the many blossoms. The cherries are a half-inch in diameter, bright currant-red, covered with inconspicuous hairs and contain a stone of medium size. They are pleasantly acid, very juicy and withal a decided addition to cultivated cherries. _Prunus tomentosa_ seems a most promising plant for domestication and of particular merit for small gardens and cold regions.

Koehne, in his list of cherries, names ten botanical varieties of _Prunus tomentosa_. From this the species seems to be most variable and under cultivation would probably break up into many forms some of which might prove superior to the type species. Koehne's botanical varieties are given under the species on page 22.

PRUNUS PUMILA Linnaeus.

1. Linnaeus _Mant. Pl._ 75. 1768. 2. Bailey _Cor. Bul. Ex. Sta_.
=38=:96. 1892. Bailey _l. c_. =70=:260. 1894. 3. Bailey _Cyc. Am.
Hort._ =3=:1450. 1901.

_P. Susquehanae._ 4. Willdenow _Enum. Pl._ 519. 1809.

_P. depressa._ 5. Pursh _Fl. Am._ =1=:332. 1814.

_P. incana._ 6. Schweinitz Long's Expedition by Keating =2=:387.
1824.

_Cerasus glauca._ 7. Moench _Meth._ 672. 1794.

_C. pumila._ 8. Michaux _Fl. Bor. Am._ =2=:286. 1803.

_C. depressa._ 9. Seringe, in De Candolle _Prod._ =2=:538. 1825.

Plant a small shrub, five to eight feet in height, willow-like
habit, weak, upright when young but becoming decumbent,
slow-growing, hardy; trunk slender, smooth except for the raised
lenticels; branches slender, smooth, twiggy, very dark, dull
reddish-black with a tinge of gray; lenticels numerous, small,
conspicuous; branchlets very slender, short, twiggy, with short
internodes, dull grayish-brown, glabrous, with conspicuous, very
small, raised lenticels.

Leaves hanging late in the season, small, averaging one and
three-fourths inches long, one inch wide, flat, abruptly pointed,
narrowly oblanceolate to obovate, thin; upper surface dark, dull
green, smooth; lower surface light green, thinly pubescent on
the midrib and veins; midrib small, straight; veins very minute;
margin serrate, teeth tipped with very small glands; petiole
short, one-fourth inch in length, glandless.

Flowers small, in two- to five-flowered umbels, white, appearing
with the leaves; pedicels slender, a half-inch in length.
Fruit nearly round, pendulous, variable in color but usually
purple-black, without bloom, nearly a half-inch in diameter; flesh
thin, variable in quality but often sour and astringent; season
late July; stone turgid, nearly round.

_Prunus pumila_, the Sand Cherry, or Dwarf Cherry, of eastern America, is found on sandy and rocky inland shores from Maine to the District of Columbia and northwestward to the Lake of the Woods in Canada. In particular it is common on the sand dunes of the Great Lakes. Everywhere in the wild state it grows in light sands suggesting its use in arid soils and especially on poor soils in cold climates.

As yet there seem to be no named varieties of this cherry known to fruit-growers, its nearly related species, _Prunus besseyi_, offering greater opportunities to both the fruit-grower and the experimenter. Both the plants and fruits are so variable, the size, color and quality of the crop on some plants being quite attractive, that it is certain an opportunity to domesticate a worthy native plant is being overlooked. The species ought to have value, too, as a stock on which to work other cherries for sandy soils, dwarf trees and exacting climates.

PRUNUS CUNEATA Rafinesque.

1. Rafinesque _Ann. Nat._ 11. 1820. 2. Bailey _Cor. Ex. Sta. Bul._
=38=:101. 1892. 3. Britton and Brown _Ill. Flora_ =2=:250. 1897.
4. Gray _Man. Bot._ ed. =7=:498. 1908.

_P. pumila cuneata._ 5. Bailey _Cyc. Am. Hort._ =3=:1451. 1901.

_Prunus cuneata_, sometimes called the Appalachian cherry, is not growing at this Station but is described in the references given as very similar to the Sand Cherry, differing in the following respects:

The plant is dwarfer but is more erect never having prostrate branches; the branches are smoother and lighter colored; the leaves are shorter, more oval, more obtuse, thinner, less conspicuously veined, teeth fewer and the points more appressed; the flowers are larger, petals broader and are borne on slightly curled stems in umbels of two to four; the fruit and stone in the two species are much the same, possibly averaging smaller in this species.

The habitat of _Prunus cuneata_ is from Maine to North Carolina and northwest to Minnesota, being most commonly found in wet, stiff soils near lakes and bogs but often found on rocky hills if the soil be not too dry.

It is doubtful if this cherry is as promising for cultivation as the foregoing species and not nearly as worthy attention as the next cherry.

PRUNUS BESSEYI Bailey.

1. Bailey _Cor. Ex. Sta. Bul._ =70=:261. 1894. 2. _Contrib. U. S.
Nat. Herb._ =3=:156. 1895. 3. Bessey _Neb. Hort. Soc._ =26=:168.
1895. Bessey _l. c._ =37=:121. 1906. 4. Britton and Brown _Ill.
Flora_ =3=:251. 1897.

_P. pumila Besseyi._ 5. Waugh _Vt. Ex. Sta. Rpt._ =12=:239.
1898-99. 6. Bailey _Cyc. Am. Hort._ 3:1451. 1901.

Plant a small shrub, spreading or diffuse, one to four feet in
height, open-centered, slow-growing, hardy; trunk slender, smooth;
branches slender, smooth, very dark brownish-black, with numerous
lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with short internodes,
dull grayish-brown becoming almost black, smooth, glabrous, with
conspicuous, small, raised lenticels.

Leaves hanging late, numerous, small, two and three-eighths inches
long, one inch wide, thick, stiff, slightly folded upward or
nearly flat; apex with a short taper-point, broadly lanceolate to
nearly oval-lanceolate; upper surface dark green, glossy, smooth;
lower surface very light green, not pubescent; midrib distinct,
glabrous; veins small but distinct; margin serrate, teeth
appressed, tipped with indistinct, sharp glands; petiole thick,
three-eighths inch in length, glandless or with from one to two
very small, light colored, globose glands on the petiole at the
base of the leaf; stipules very prominent, almost leaf-like.

Flowers appearing with the leaves in sessile umbels, small, less
than a half-inch across, white; fruit more than a half-inch in
diameter, globose, sometimes oblong-pointed, yellowish, mottled or
more often purple-black; variable in quality but always more or
less astringent; ripening in early August; stone large, globose,
slightly flattened.

The habitat of _Prunus besseyi_ is not yet definitely bounded but it can, at least, be said that this species is to be found on the prairies from Manitoba and Minnesota to southern Kansas and westward into Montana, Wyoming and Utah. In its natural range it undoubtedly runs into that of _Prunus pumila_ to the east, and Waugh, in the reference given, holds that the two species grade into each other and he, therefore, makes this a variety of the eastern species. Certainly _Prunus pumila_ and _Prunus besseyi_ are as distinct as are many other of the more or less indefinite species of this genus--few, indeed, are the species of Prunus that do not have outliers which overlap other types and, as we shall see, there are hybrids between this and species of other cherries, plums and even peaches and apricots, showing that the lines of demarcation between the members of this genus are difficult to define.

Although _Prunus besseyi_ has received attention from horticulturists less than a quarter-century it has aroused much interest, best indicated by the fact that now a considerable number of varieties of the species are under cultivation and there are more than a score of hybrids disseminated in which it is one of the parents. Indians, trappers and early settlers have long used the wild fruit under the name of Western Sand Cherry, Bessey's Cherry and Rocky Mountain Cherry. Among pioneers this cherry was held in high esteem for sauces, pies and preserves and, where there was a dearth of cultivated cherries, was eaten with relish out of hand. The flesh is tender, juicy and, while astringent as commonly found, plants bearing aromatic and very palatable cherries are often found growing wild while some of the domesticated plants bear very well-flavored fruits. All speak of the Sand Cherry as wonderful in productiveness and as having remarkable capacity to withstand the vicissitudes of the exacting climate in which it grows. A valuable asset of _Prunus besseyi_ is its great variability. Fruit from different plants varies in size, color and flavor suggesting that, under cultivation, amelioration will proceed rapidly. The plants of this species root freely from layers or root-cuttings and are therefore easily propagated and multiplied.

But it is in its hybrids that this western cherry has proved most valuable in horticulture. There are now hybrids under cultivation between this species and the Sand plum (_Prunus augustifolia watsoni_), the Hortulana plum (_Prunus hortulana_), the Simonii plum (_Prunus simonii_), the Japanese plum (_Prunus triflora_), the American plum (_Prunus americana_), the Cherry plum (_Prunus cerasifera_), the Sweet Cherry (_Prunus avium_), the peach (_Prunus persica_), the apricots _(Prunus armeniaca_ and _Prunus mume_), and the common plum _(Prunus domestica_). It would almost seem that this species is the "go-between" of the many and varied types of the genus Prunus. It is true that few of these hybrids yet shine as orchard plants but, given time, it seems certain that some will prove valuable in general horticulture and that many will be grown in the special horticulture of the northern Mississippi Valley and the adjoining plains to the west. Credit must be given to Professor N. E. Hansen of the South Dakota Experiment Station for most of our present knowledge of hybridism between this and other species.[10]

In his work with this species Hansen has also found that _Prunus besseyi_ makes a very good stock for peaches, apricots, Japanese and native plums and that, while it does not so readily consort with the true cherries, yet it can be used as a stock for them. On the other hand larger fruits of the Sand Cherry can be grown when it is budded on stocks of the Americana.

[10] See bulletins 87 (1904), 88 (1904), 108 (1908) and 130 (1911)
from the South Dakota Experiment Station, Brookings, S. D.

MINOR SPECIES

Besides these well-recognized species of cultivated cherries there are several others that play a much less conspicuous part in horticulture. _Prunus fruticosa_ Pallas, the Dwarf Cherry of Europe, is much cultivated, more especially its botanical variety _pendula_, as an ornamental and somewhat for its fruit. According to Wilson,[11] _Prunus involucrata_ Koehne is grown for its fruit in the gardens of China; the fruits, he says, are "small and lacking in flavour." The fruits of _Prunus emarginata_ Walpers are eaten by the Indians on the Pacific Coast and the early settlers used the species as a stock for orchard cherries. _Prunus jacquemontii_ Hooker, the Dwarf Cherry of Afghanistan and Tibet, is occasionally in culture for its fruit and as a park plant; so also is another dwarf cherry from southwestern Asia, _Prunus incana_ Steven. _Prunus pseudocerasus_ Lindley, the Flowering Cherry of Japan, is a well-known ornamental the world over and in Japan is used as a stock for orchard cherries for which purpose, as we have suggested in the discussion of stocks, it ought to be tried in America.

[11] Wilson, E. H. _A Naturalist in Western China_ =2=:27. 1913.