—This species is wholly unknown to us. Elliott compares it with C.
Pennsylvania, whence we suppose it to be a Cerasus.
4. C. emarginata (Dougl.): leaves oval or obovate, serrulate, obtuse and
often emarginate, nearly glabrous, biglandular at the base; corymbs few-
flowered, glabrous; segments of the calyx ovate, obtuse, reflexed; drupes
globose.—Dougl. ! in Hook. 1. c.
Upper part of the Oregon River, Douglas! Nuttall!—Shrub 4-10 feet
high. Fruit somewhat resembling the Garden Cherry (Nutt.), but bitter
and astringent.
5. C. mollis (Dougl.): leaves oblong or obovate-oblong, mostly obtuse,
tomentose-pubeseent -beneath, serrulate ; corymbs somewhat racemed, 5-6-
flowered, tomentose ; segments of the calyx very obtuse, reflexed, shorter
than the pubescent tube; drupes ovoid.—Dougl. ! in Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1.
p. 169. -
Oregon, common, Menzies! Douglas! Mr. Tolmie ! Nuttall!—Tree
15-25 feet high, with brownish or purplish branches; the younger ones
downy.
§ 2. Flowers in racemes terminating leafy branches, appearing after the
evolution of the leaves : leaves deciduous.—P adus.
6. C. Virginiana (D C .): leaves broadly oval or somewhat obovate, with
a short abrupt acumination, often subcordate at the base, very sharply and
often doubly serrate with subulate teeth, mostly hairy in the axils of the
veins beneath; petioles with 2 or more glands; racemes short, erect or
spreading ; petals orbicular; drupes subglobose, dark red.—Seringe, in
DC. / prodr. 2. p. 539 (excl. syn. Michx.) ; Spach ! suite Buff. C. densi-
flora & fimbriata, Spach ! 1. c. C. serotina, Lois. 1 l. c, ; Hook. ! ft. Bor.-
Am. 1. p. 169. C. obovata, Beck. hot. p. 97. Prunus Virginiana, Linn. !
spec. 1. p. 473 (excl. syn.); Willd. ! spec. 2. p. 986, 8f arb. t. 5, ƒ. 1 ;
Chump. Otto, 4' Hayne, holz. t. 36. P . rubra, Ait. Kew. (ed. 1.) 2. p. 163.
P. serotina, Pursh! 1. c .; Torr. ! ft. 1. p. 468. P. obovata, Bigel. ! fl.
Best. ed. 2. p. 192. P. Mrsutus, Ell. sk. 1. p. 541 ?
0. low; flowers smaller.—P. nana, Du Roi ; Pott! (v. sp. in herb.
Willd.) Cerasus micrantha, Spach ! l. c.
Canada ! and Newfoundland, Hudson’s Bay, and near Great Slave Lake,
lat. 62° (Richardson!) and Northern States! to Louisiana! April-May.__
A small tree or low shrub, with grayish bark. Leaves membranaceous,
2-3 inches long when full-grown. Fruit about as large as in C. serotina,
dark red when fully ripe, edible but very astringent.—Choke-Cherry.—This
and the succeeding species are perfectly distinct, and are well characterized
by Ehrhart, who first distinguished them. The confusion respecting them
has resulted from an error of some of the older authors, and the subsequent
transposition of the specific names. The Prunus Virginiana of Linnaeus
was founded on the present species (the Choke-Cherry), as appears from his
description and herbarium: but the synonym adduced from Gronovius
relates to the succeeding species, that of Plukenet (omitted in ed. 2,) to Itea
Virginica ! and that of Catesby (which was afterwards erased by Linnaeus
in his own copy of the Species Plantarum) to Cerasus Caroliniana. Mi-
chaux having taken the following for the Linn®an species, the present plant
came to be erroneously called P. serotina by American botanists, applying
to it, as if to increase the confusion, the character of Willdenow’s P. serotina.
It is this species which is so nearly allied to C. Padus of Europe.
7. C. serotina (DC.) : leaves (rather coriaceous) oval, oblong, or lanceolateoblong,
acuminate, glabrous, or bearded along the midrib beneath, smooth
and shining above, finely serrate with appressed or incurved callous teeth ;
petioles (or base of the leaf) mostly with 2 or more glands ; racemes elongated,
spreading; petals broadly obovate ; drupes globose, purplish-black.—
Lois.? 1. c .; Seringe! in DC. 1. c .; Spach! 1. c. C. sylvestris, &c.
Gronov.! Virg. p. 75. C. Virginiana, Michx.! fl. 1. p. 283; Michx. f .
sylv. 2. p. 204, t. 88 ; Hook. 1. c. (excl. syn .); Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 289.
Prunus serotina, Ehrh. beitr. 3. p. 20; Willd,.! arb. t. 5, ƒ. 2, Sf spec. 2.
p. 986 ; Guimp. Otto, Hayne, holz. 1. 3 7 ; not of Pursh, Torr. &;c. P.
Virginiana, Mill. diet.; Du Roi, harbk. 2. p. 191; Wang. Amer. t. 14, ƒ.
3 ; Ell. sk. 1. c.; Torr. ! fl. 1. p. 467 ; not of Linn., except as to syn.
Gronov. P. cartilaginea, Lehm.! ind. sem. Hamb. 1833.
In woods, Canada! to Florida and Western States! May.—Tree 30-80
feet high, with spreading branches; the wood hard and close-grained, valuable
to cabinet-makers. Leaves 2—4 inches long. Racemes 2-5 inches in
length, at length nodding. Fruit 2-3 lines in diameter, edible, but slightly
bitter to the taste.—This is the C. Virginiana of Hooker, so far as relates to
the character and a part of the synonomy; but the subjoined remarks from
Richardson belong to the. Choke-Cherry, as he indeed suggests. In the
Northern States, this species ripens its fruit in August and September, about
a month later than C. Virginiana.— Wild Cherry. Black Cherry.
8. C. demissa (Nutt.! m ss.): “ shrubby; leaves ovate or oval, acute,
sharply serrulate with straight teeth, often- emarginate at the base, more or
less pubescent beneath; racemes erect [or nodding], longer than the leaves;
calyx hemispherical; the lobes short and obtuse, glandularly ciliate ; petals
roundish; drupes red.”
Plains of the Oregon towards the sea, and at the mouth of the Wahlamet,
Nuttall! Oregon, Mr. Tolmie !—This is apparently a quite distinct species,
growing to the height of 5-6 feet, according to Nuttall, with astringent fruit.
The petiole is mostly biglandular, the pedicels about the length of the
flowers. To this perhaps belong the specimens of “ C. serotina,” collected
by Douglas in the vallies west of the Rocky Mountains, although it is not
improbable that the true C. Virginiana has this range in the north.
§ 3. Flowers in racemes, from the axils of the persistent leaves of the former
season.—Laurocerasus, Tourn.; DC. (excl. § 1.)
A truly natural section, when properly characterized, as above.
9. C. Caroliniana (Michx.) : leaves on short petioles, oblong-lanceolate,
acuminate, mucronate, entire, or sometimes spinulose-serrate, coriaceous,
veinless, smooth and shining above ; racemes dense, shorter than the leaves;
drupes black, juiceless, persistent.—Michx. ! fl. 1. p. 285 ; DC. ! 1. c.
Prunus Caroliniana, Ait. f£ew. (ed. 1.) 2. p. 540 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 540. P.
Lusitanica, Walt. Car. p. 167. Bumelia serrata, Pursh, fl. 1. p. 155,
ex Nutt.
River-banks, S. Carolina ! to Florida ! Louisiana ! and Arkansas !
March-April.—Tree 30-50 feet high. Leaves destitute of glands, almost
veinless. Petals small. Stamens about 15.—The leaves, according to Elliott,
are very poisonous, frequently destroying cattle that are tempted to
browse freely on them in the spring of the year.
10. C. ilicifolius (Nutt.! mss.): leaves on short petioles, roundish-cordate or
broadly oval, spinosely-toothed, veiny, smooth and shining above, coriaceous
; racemes dense, about as long as the. leaves ; drupes black, oval, acuminate.—
Hook. Sf Am. ! bot. Beechey, suppl. p. 340, t. 83.