_Plum Family_
Trees or shrubs, the bark exuding gum. Leaves alternate, petioled,
serrate, the teeth and petiole often glandular; flowers regular,
perfect; calyx 5-lobed inferior, deciduous; petals 5, inserted on the
calyx; stamens numerous, inserted on the petals; fruit a 1-seeded drupe.
[Sidenote: =Prunus demissa= (Nutt.) Walp. _Western Wild Cherry._]
A shrub or small tree. Leaves thick ovate or broadly oval, acute or
slightly obtuse, serrulate with short teeth. Flowers ¼ of an inch or
more broad, in drooping racemes at the ends of the leafy branches;
drupe dark purple or black, globose, over ¼ of an inch in diameter.
In thickets in the Rockies, frequent in the vicinity of Banff;
flowering in May and early June.