File:Bulletin (Pennsylvania Department of Forestry), no. 11 (1901) (20314803888).jpg

Title: Bulletin (Pennsylvania Department of Forestry), no. 11
Identifier: bulletinpennsylv11pennx (find matches)
Year: 1901 (1900s)
Authors: Pennsylvania. Dept. of Forestry
Subjects: Forests and forestry
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa. : The Department : WM. Stanley Ray, state printer of Pennsylvania
Contributing Library: Penn State University
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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17i h I FIRE CHERRY Prunus pennsylvanica, Linnaeus FORM—A small tree reaching a height of 40 ft. with a diameter of about 18 Inches. Trunk usually short bearing rather ascending branches which form a narrow and rather flat-topped crown. The largest specimen the author has seen In Pennsylvania was growlnar upon the Hull State Forest, Potter county, and bad a breast-high diameter of fourteen and one-half Inches. BAEK—On old trunks somewhat roughened but not fissured. On younger trunks about i of an Inch thick, reddish-brown, rather smooth but roughened by large horizontally-elongated lenticels. The outer bark peels off readily lu thin fllm-llke layers and exposes the green Inner bark which is bitter. TWI08—Slender, smooth, glossy, bright red, sometimes wholly or partly covered with a thin grayish coating which rubs off very readily, marked with numerous pale to yellowish and conspicuous lenticels which in lime bocome horizontally-elongated. The twigs have a character* istlc bittor taste and a peculiar odor. BVDB—^Alternate, small, usually less than i of an inch long, ovate, dull-pointed, smooth or slightly grayish, scaly, clustered at the fcnd of twigs and often along the sides; covered with scales which are hard to distinguish. They are sometimes clustered on stubby lateral spurs. LEAVES—Alternate or sometimes paired but not opposite each other, simple, oblong- lanceolate, 3-5 inches long, tapering or rounded at base, sharp-pointed at apex, sharply and finely serrate on margin, rather shining, green and smooth on both sides. LEAF-SCARS—Alternate, more than 2-ranked, somewhat raised on projections of twigs, elongated, semi-elliptical in outline, with 3 bundle-scars, the central one of which is usually the largest. FLOWERS—Ai^>ear about May when leaves are partly developed. They are white, perfect, about i of an inch across, borne on long stalks in 4-5 flowered umbels. FRX7IT—^A globular, Juicy, light red drupe about ; of an inch in diameter, tipped with parts of persistent styles, covered with thin skin which contains sour flesh and oblong stone. Ripens about July. WOOD—Similar to that of the Wild Black Cherry, page 172, only lighter in weight and of no commercial importance. Not found on the market. Weighs 81 lbs. per cubic foot. DI8TIN0UISHIN0 CHARACTERISTICS—The Fire Cherry, also known as Wild Red, Bird and Pin Cherry, can be distinguished from Wild Black Cherry and Choke Cherry by its flowers which are borne in umbels while those of the other species are borne in racemes, and by its slender twigs bearing clustered terminal buds while those of the other cherries occur solitary. The bark can be distinguished from the Choke Cherry by the presence of numerous orange-colored horizontally-elongated lenticels and from the Wild Black Cherry by the absence of dark scaly plates with projecting edges. RANOE—Newfoundland to British Columbia, southward to Georgia, Tennessee, and Colorado. DISTRIBUTION IN PENNSYLVANIA—Conunon in the mountainous parts of the State, particularly among the Alleghenies. Rare or absent southeast of a line drawn from Easton through Harrisburg to Chambei-sburg. Also rare in the western part of the State. The author has found only 12 specimens in the South Mountains of Adams. Cumberland, and Franklin coun- ties during ten years of field work. HABITAT—^Usually found in rocky woods and recent clearings. Very common along fences and roadsides, in abandoned fields, on lumbered and burnt-over areas, on mountain slopes and uccasionally found on bottomlands. Often forms almost impenetrable thickets in lumbered areas in the Allegheny Mountains. Three to Ave thousand specimens per acre is not an unusual number in the Black Forest region of northern Pennsylvania. IMPORTANCE OF THE SPECIES—The Fire Cherry Is of no commercial importance. It Is very attractive but its short life prevents it from being planted extensively for ornamental pur- poses. It is rather aggressive, springing up rapidly after fires and lumbering operations, often taking complete control of the situation. It is, however, a temporary species acting as a shelter or nurse tree to other more valuable species which usually follow and form the desired forest stand. The main value of this tree lies in the shelter which it gives to others and the food which it furnishes for birds and wild animals.
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;i. PLATE LXXXVI. FIRE CHERRY 1. A flowering brancli, x i. 2 A fruiting branch with mature leaves, x ». a". Section of a fruit, enlarged. 4. A winter twig, natural size. r, Section "f a winter twiij, cnlinned. INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

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