下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
Trees or shrubs; leaves simple or pinnate, mostly alternate, with stipules free from the leafstalk and usually soon falling; flowers regular, perfect; calyx 5-lobed; calyx-tube adnate to ovary; petals 5, inserted on the disk which lines the calyx-tube; stamens usually many, distinct, inserted with the petals; carpels of the ovary 1-5, partially or entirely united with each other; ovules 1-2 in each carpel; styles 1-5; fruit a fleshy pome, often berry-like or drupe-like, formed by consolidation of the carpels with the calyx-tube.
Habitat and Range. —River banks, cool woods, swamps, and mountains.
Newfoundland to Manitoba.
Maine,—common; New Hampshire,—common along the watersheds of the Connecticut and Merrimac rivers and on the slopes of the White mountains; Vermont,—abundant far up the slopes of the Green mountains; Massachusetts,—Graylock, Wachusett, Watatic, and other mountainous regions; rare eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,—occasional in the northern sections.
South, in cold swamps and along the mountains to North Carolina; west to Michigan and Minnesota.
Habit. —A small tree, 15-20 feet high, often attaining in the woods of northern Maine and on the slopes of the White mountains a height of 25-30 feet, with a trunk diameter of 12-15 inches; reduced at its extreme altitudes to a low shrub; head, in open ground, pyramidal or roundish; branches spreading and slender.
Bark. —Closely resembling bark of P. sambucifolia .
Winter Buds and Leaves., —Buds more or less scythe-shaped, acute, smooth, glutinous. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate; stem grooved, enlarged at base, reddish-brown above; stipules deciduous; leaflets 11-19, 2-4 inches long, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth, narrow-oblong or lanceolate, the terminal often elliptical, finely and sharply serrate above the base; apex acuminate; base roundish to acute and unequally sided; sessile or nearly so, except in the odd leaflet.
Inflorescence. —In terminal, densely compound, large and flattish cymes; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, white, roundish, short-clawed; stamens numerous; ovary inferior; styles 3.
Fruit. —Round, bright red, about the size of a pea, lasting into winter.
Horticultural Value. —Hardy throughout New England; prefers a good, well-drained soil; rate of growth slow and nearly uniform. It is readily transplanted and would be useful on the borders of woods, in plantations of low trees, and in seaside exposures. Rare in nurseries and seldom for sale by collectors. The readily obtainable and more showy European P. aucuparia is to be preferred for ornamental purposes.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. |
| 4. Petal. |
| 5. Fruiting branch. |
Habitat and Range. —Mountain slopes, cool woods, along the shores of rivers and ponds, often associated with P. Americana , but climbing higher up the mountains.
From Labrador and Nova Scotia west to the Rocky mountains, then northward along the mountain ranges to Alaska.
Maine,—abundant in Aroostook county, Piscataquis county, Somerset county at least north to the Moose river, along the boundary mountains, about the Rangeley lakes and locally on Mount Desert Island; New Hampshire,—in the White mountain region; Vermont,—Mt. Mansfield, Willoughby mountain (Pringle); undoubtedly in other sections of these states; to be looked for along the edges of deep, cool swamps and at considerable elevations.
South of New England, probably only as an escape from cultivation; west through the northern tier of states to the Rocky mountains, thence northward along the mountain ranges to Alaska and south to New Mexico and California.
Habit. —A shrub 3-10 feet high, or small tree rising to a height of 15-25 feet, reaching its maximum in northern New England, where it occasionally attains a height of 30-35 feet, with a trunk diameter of 15 inches. It forms an open, wide-spreading, pyramidal or roundish head, resembling the preceding species in the color of bark, in foliage and fruit. Whether these are two distinct species is at the present problematical, as there are many intermediate forms, and the same tree sometimes furnishes specimens that would indubitably be referred to different species.
Bark. —On old trees light brown and roughish on the trunk, separating into small scales curling up on one side; large limbs light-colored, smoothish, often conspicuously marked with coarse horizontal blotches and leaf-scars; season's shoots light brown, smooth, silvery dotted.
Winter Buds and Leaves. —Terminal bud 1 inch long, lateral ½ inch, appressed, brownish, scythe-shaped, acute, more or less glutinous. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, stems grooved and reddish above, enlarged at base; stipules deciduous; leaflets 7-15, the odd one stalked, 1-3 inches long, ½-1 inch wide, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth, mostly ovate-oblong, serrate above the base; apex rounded or more usually tapering suddenly to a short point, or rarely acuminate; base inequilateral.
Inflorescence. —In broad, compound cymes at the ends of the branches; flowers white and rather larger than those of P. Americanus ; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, ovate, short-clawed; stamens numerous; pistil 3-styled.
Fruit. —In broad cymes; berries bright red, roundish, rather larger than those of P. Americana , holding on till winter.
Horticultural Value. —Hardy in New England, though of shrub-like proportions in the southern sections; grows in exposed situations inland, and along the seashore. The dwarf habit, graceful foliage, and showy fruit give it an especial value in artificial plantations; but it is seldom for sale in nurseries and only occasionally by collectors. It is readily transplanted and is propagated by seed.
Note. —In the European mountain ash, P. aucuparia , the leaves have a blunter apex than is usually found in either of the American species, and have a more decided tendency to double serration.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. |
| 4. Fruiting branch. |
The common pear, introduced from Europe; a frequent escape from cultivation throughout New England and elsewhere; becomes scraggly and shrubby in a wild state.
The common apple; introduced from Europe; a more or less frequent escape wherever extensively cultivated, like the pear showing a tendency in a wild state to reversion.
Habitat and Range. —Dry, open woods, hillsides.
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to Lake Superior.
New England,—throughout.
South to the Gulf of Mexico; west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Louisiana.
Habit. —Shrub or small tree, 10-25 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 6-10 inches, reaching sometimes a height of 40 feet and trunk diameter of 18 inches; head rather wide-spreading, slender-branched, open; conspicuous in early spring, while other trees are yet naked, by its profuse display of loose spreading clusters of white flowers, and the delicate tints of the silky opening foliage.
Bark. —Trunk and large branches greenish-gray, smooth; branchlets purplish-brown, smooth.
Winter Buds and Leaves. —Buds small, oblong-conical, pointed. Leaves 2-3-½ inches long, about half as wide, slightly pubescent when young, dark bluish-green above at maturity, lighter beneath; outline varying from ovate to obovate, finely and sharply serrate; apex pointed or mucronate, often abruptly so; base somewhat heart-shaped or rounded; leafstalk about 1 inch long; stipules slender, silky, ciliate, soon falling.
Inflorescence. —April to May. Appearing with the leaves at the end of the branchlets in long, loose, spreading or drooping, nearly glabrous racemes; flowers large; calyx 5-cleft, campanulate, pubescent to nearly glabrous; segments lanceolate, acute, reflexed; petals 5, whole, narrow-oblong or oblong-spatulate, about 1 inch long, two to three times the length of the calyx; stamens numerous: ovary with style deeply 5-parted.
Fruit. —June to July. In drooping racemes, globose, passing through various colors to reddish, purplish, or black purple, long-stemmed, sweet and edible without decided flavor.
Horticultural Value. —Hardy throughout New England; grows in all soils and situations except in wet lands, but prefers deep, rich, moist loam; very irregular in its habit of growth, sometimes forming a shrub, at other times a slender, unsymmetrical tree, and again a symmetrical tree with well-defined trunk. Its beautiful flowers, clean growth, attractive fruit and autumn foliage make it a desirable plant in landscape plantations where it can be grouped with other trees. Occasionally in nurseries; procurable from collectors.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Flowering branch. |
| 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. |
| 4. Fruiting branch. |
A revision of genus Cratægus has long been a desideratum with botanists. The present year has added numerous new species, most of which must be regarded as provisional until sufficient time has elapsed to note more carefully the limits of variation in previously existing species and to eliminate possible hybrids. During the present period of uncertainty it seems best to exclude most of the new species from the manuals until their status has been satisfactorily established by raising plants from the seed, or by prolonged observation over wide areas.
Rich soils, edge of swamps.
Quebec to Manitoba.
Found sparingly in western Vermont ( Flora of Vermont , 1900); southern Connecticut (C. H. Bissell).
South to Georgia; west to Iowa.
A small tree, 10-25 feet in height and 6-12 inches in trunk diameter; best distinguished by its thorns and leaves.
Thorns numerous, straight, long (2-4 inches), slender; leaves thick, smooth, dark green, shining on the upper surface, pale beneath, turning dark orange red in autumn; outline obovate-oblanceolate, serrate above, entire or nearly so near base; apex acute or rounded; base decidedly wedge-shaped shaped; leafstalks short.
Fruit globose or very slightly pear-shaped, remaining on the tree throughout the winter.
Hardy throughout southern New England; used frequently for a hedge plant.
Thickets, hillsides, borders of forests.
Quebec and Ontario.
Small tree, common in Vermont (Brainerd) and occasional in the other New England states.
South to Georgia.
Thorns 1-2 inches long, sometimes branched; leaves 1-2½ inches long, smooth on the upper surface, finally smooth and dull beneath; outline obovate, toothed or slightly lobed above, entire or nearly so beneath, short-pointed or somewhat obtuse at the apex, wedge-shaped at base; leafstalk slender, 1-2 inches long; calyx lobes linear, entire; fruit large, red or yellow.
In view of the fact of great variation in the bark, leaves, inflorescence, and fruit of plants that have all passed in this country as C. coccinea , and in view of the further uncertainty as to the plant on which the species was originally founded, it seems "best to consider the specimen in the Linnæan herbarium as the type of C. coccinea which can be described as follows:
"Leaves elliptical or on vigorous shoots mostly semiorbicular, acute or acuminate, divided above the middle into numerous acute coarsely glandular-serrate lobes, cuneate and finely glandular-serrate below the middle and often quite entire toward the base, with slender midribs and remote primary veins arcuate and running to the points of the lobes, at the flowering time membranaceous, coated on the upper surface and along the upper surface of the midribs and veins with short soft white hairs, at maturity thick, coriaceous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, glabrous or nearly so, 1½-2 inches long and 1-1½ inches wide, with slender glandular petioles 3/4-1 inch long, slightly grooved on the upper surface, often dark red toward the base, and like the young branchlets villous with pale soft hairs; stipules lanceolate to oblanceolate, conspicuously glandular-serrate with dark red glands, ½-¾4 inch long. Flowers ½-¾ inch in diameter when fully expanded, in broad, many-flowered, compound tomentose cymes; bracts and bractlets linear-lanceolate, coarsely glandular-serrate, caducous; calyx tomentose, the lobes lanceolate, glandular-serrate, nearly glabrous or tomentose, persistent, wide-spreading or erect on the fruit, dark red above at the base; stamens 10; anthers yellow; styles 3 or 4. Fruit subglobose, occasionally rather longer than broad, dark crimson, marked with scattered dark dots, about ½ inch in diameter, with thin, sweet, dry yellow flesh; nutlets 3 or 4, about ¼ inch long, conspicuously ridged on the back with high grooved ridges.
"A low, bushy tree, occasionally 20 feet in height with a short trunk 8-10 inches in diameter, or more frequently shrubby and forming wide dense thickets, and with stout more or less zigzag branches bright chestnut brown and lustrous during their first year, ashy-gray during their second season and armed with many stout, chestnut-brown, straight or curved spines 1-1½ inches long. Flowers late in May. Fruit ripens and falls toward the end of October, usually after the leaves.
"Slopes of hills and the high banks of salt marshes usually in rich, well-drained soil, Essex county, Massachusetts, John Robinson, 1900; Gerrish island, Maine, J. G. Jack, 1899-1900; Brunswick, Maine, Miss Kate Furbish, May, 1899; Newfoundland, A. C. Waghorne, 1894." [1]
[1] Prof. C. S. Sargent in Bot. Gaz. , XXXI, 12. By permission of the publishers.
Habitat and Range. —Bordering on low lands and along streams.
Provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
Maine,—as far north as Mattawamkeag on the middle Penobscot, Dover on the Piscataquis, and Orono on the lower Penobscot; reported also from southern sections; Vermont,—Charlotte (Hosford); Massachusetts,—in the eastern part infrequent; no stations reported in the other New England states.
South to Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Texas; west to Michigan and Missouri.
Habit. —Shrub or often a small tree, 20-30 feet high, with trunk 6-12 inches in diameter, often with numerous suckers; branches at 4-6 feet from the ground, at an acute angle with the stem, lower often horizontal or declining; head spreading, widest at base, spray short, angular, and bushy; thorns slender, 1-3 inches long, straight or slightly recurved.
Bark. —Bark of the whole tree, except the ultimate shoots, light gray, on the trunk and larger branches separating lengthwise into thin narrow plates, in old trees dark gray and more or less shreddy; season's shoots reddish or yellowish-brown, glossy.
Winter Buds and Leaves. —Buds small, ovate, reddish-brown, shining; scales broad, glandular-edged. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-5 inches long, light green above, lighter beneath, broad-ovate to broad-elliptical; rather regularly and slightly incised with fine, glandular-tipped teeth; apex acute; base wedge-shaped, truncate, or subcordate; roughish above and slightly pubescent beneath, especially along the veins; leaf-stalk pubescent; stipules linear, glandular-edged, deciduous.
Inflorescence. —May to June. In cymes from the season's growth; flowers white, 3/4 inch broad, ill-smelling; calyx lobes 5, often incised, pubescent; petals roundish; stamens indefinite, styles 3-5; flower stems pubescent; bracts glandular.
Fruit. —A drupe-like pome, ½-1 inch long, bright scarlet, larger than the fruit of the other New England species; ripens and falls in September.
Horticultural Value. —Hardy in New England. An attractive and useful tree in low plantations; rarely for sale by nurserymen or collectors; propagated from the seed.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Branch with thorns. |
| 3. Flowering branch. |
| 4. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. |
| 5. Fruiting branch. |
Note. —The New England plants here put under the head of Cratægus mollis have been referred by Prof. C. S. Sargent to Cratægus submollis ( Bot. Gaz ., XXXI, 7, 1901). The new species differs from the true Cratægus mollis in its smaller ovate leaves with cuneate base and more or less winged leafstalk, in the smaller number of its stamens, usually 10, and in its pear-shaped orange-red fruit, which drops in early September.
It is also probable that C. Arnoldiana , Sargent, new species, has been collected in Massachusetts as C. mollis . It differs from C. submollis "in its broader, darker green, more villose leaves which are usually rounded, not cuneate at the base, in its smaller flowers, subglobose, not oblong or pear-shaped, crimson fruit with smaller spreading calyx lobes, borne on shorter peduncles and ripening two or three weeks earlier, and by its much more zigzag and more spiny branches, which make this tree particularly noticeable in winter, when it may readily be recognized from all other thorn trees."—C. S. Sargent in Bot. Gaz. , XXXI, 223, 1901.