Part 50

BARK.--Twigs at first lustrous, red, marked by orange colored lenticels, becoming brownish; red-brown and thin on the trunk, peeling off horizontally into broad, papery plates; bitter, aromatic.

WOOD.--Light, soft, close-grained, light brown, with thin, yellow sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Throughout the northern portion of the state, extending southward to Ionia County.

HABITAT.--Abundant on sand-lands; roadsides; burned-over lands; clearings; hillsides.

NOTES.--Rapid of growth. Short-lived.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Portion of twig, enlarged. 3. Leaf, × 1/2. 4. Flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 5. Vertical section of flower, × 1. 6. Fruiting branchlet, × 1/2.]

+ROSACEAE+

+Canada Plum. Red Plum+

Prunus nigra Ait. [Prunus americana, v. nigra Waugh]

HABIT.--A small tree 20-25 feet high and 5-8 inches in trunk diameter; usually divides 5-6 feet from the ground into a number of stout, upright branches, forming a narrow, rigid crown.

LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long and one-half as broad; oblong-ovate to obovate, abruptly acuminate at the apex; doubly crenate-serrate; thick and firm; glabrous, light green above, paler beneath; petioles short, stout, bearing 2 large red glands near the blade.

FLOWERS.--May, before the leaves; perfect; slightly fragrant; about 1 inch across; borne on slender, glabrous, red pedicels in 2-3-flowered umbels; calyx 5-lobed, dark red; petals 5, white; stamens 15-20, with purple anthers; ovary 1-celled; style 1; stigma 1.

FRUIT.--August-September; a fleshy drupe, about 1 inch long, oblong-ovoid, with a tough, thick, orange-red skin nearly free from bloom, and yellow flesh adherent to the flat stone. Eaten raw or cooked.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, ovate, acute, chestnut-brown.

BARK.--Twigs green, marked by numerous pale excrescences, later dark brown; thin, gray-brown and smooth on young trunks, but soon splitting off in large, thick plates, exposing the darker inner bark.

WOOD.--Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula north of Lansing.

HABITAT.--Prefers rich, alluvial soil along streams.

NOTES.--Suckers freely, forming low, broad thickets.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Leaf, × 1/4. 3. Leaflet, × 1/2. 4. Vertical section of staminate flower, enlarged. 5. Vertical section of pistillate flower, enlarged. 6. Fruit, × 1/4.]

+LEGUMINOSAE+

+Coffeetree. Kentucky Coffeetree+

Gymnocladus dioica (L.) Koch [Gymnocladus canadensis Lam.]

HABIT.--A slender tree 50-75 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet; divides near the ground into several stems which spread slightly to form a narrow, pyramidal crown; branchlets stout, clumsy, blunt, with conspicuous leaf-scars.

LEAVES.--Alternate, bipinnately compound, 1-3 feet long. Leaflets 40 or more, 2-2-1/2 inches long and one-half as broad; short-stalked; ovate, acute; entire; thin and firm; dark green above, pale yellow-green and glabrous beneath. Petioles stout, terete, glabrous. Appear late in spring.

FLOWERS.--June, after the leaves; dioecious; greenish white; the staminate short-stalked, in racemose corymbs 3-4 inches long; the pistillate long-stalked, in racemes 10-12 inches long; calyx tubular, hairy; petals 5, keeled, nearly white; stamens 10; ovary hairy.

FRUIT.--Ripens in autumn, but remains closed until late in winter; short-stalked, red-brown legumes 6-10 inches long, 1-1/2-2 inches wide, containing 6-9 large, flat seeds.

WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud absent; lateral buds minute, depressed, 2 in the axil of each leaf, bronze-brown, silky-pubescent.