Rare south of New England; west to Wisconsin. =Habit.=--A shrub or small tree, 20-25 feet high; trunk 5-8 inches in diameter; branches stout, ascending, somewhat angular, with short, rigid branchlets, forming a stiff, narrow head. =Bark.=--Bark of trunk grayish-brown, smooth in young trees, in old trees separating into large plates; smaller branches dark brown, season's shoots green. =Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds small, ovate, acute, dark brown. Leaves 3-5 inches long, light green on the upper side, paler beneath, pubescent when young; outline ovate-obovate or orbicular, crenulate-serrate; teeth not bristle-tipped; apex abruptly acuminate; base wedge-shaped, rounded, somewhat heart-shaped, or narrowing to a short petiole more or less red-glandular near the blade; stipules usually linear, ciliate, soon falling. =Inflorescence.=--Appearing in May before the leaves, in lateral, 2-3-flowered, slender-stemmed umbels; flowers about an inch broad, white when expanding, turning to pink; calyx 5-lobed, glandular; petals 5, obovate-oblong, contracting to a claw; stamens numerous; style 1, stigma 1. =Fruit.=--A drupe, oblong-oval, 1-1-1/2 inches long, orange or orange-red, skin tough, flesh adherent to the flat stone and pleasant to the taste. The fruit toward the southern limit of the species is often abortive, or develops through the growth of a fungus into monstrous forms. =Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England, and will grow, when not shaded, in almost any dry or moist soil. It has a tendency to sucker freely, forming low, broad thickets, especially attractive from their early spring flowers and handsome autumn leaves. [Illustration: PLATE LXI.--Prunus nigra.] 1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Flower with petals removed. 4. Petal. 5. Fruiting branch. 6. Stone. =Prunus Americana, Marsh.= A rare plant in New England, scarcely attaining tree-form. The most northern station yet reported is along the slopes of Graylock, Massachusetts, where a few scattered shrubs were discovered in 1900 (J. R. Churchill). In Connecticut it seems to be native in the vicinity of Southington, shrubs, and small trees 10-15 feet high (C. H. Bissell _in lit._, 1900); New Milford and Munroe, small trees (C. K. Averill). Distinguished from _P. nigra_ by its sharply toothed leaves, smaller blossoms (the petals of which do not turn pink), and by its globose fruit. [Illustration: PLATE LXII.--Prunus Americana.] 1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. 4. Petal. 5. Flowering branch. 6. Stone. =Prunus Pennsylvanica, L. f.= RED CHERRY. PIN CHERRY. PIGEON CHERRY. BIRD CHERRY. =Habitat and Range.=--Roadsides, clearings, burnt lands, hill slopes, occasional in rather low grounds. From Labrador to the Rocky mountains, through British Columbia to the Coast Range.