This tree, which is conspicuous in the early part of May from its
profusion of white flowers in the swamps, is very little known except in
Canada and some of the northern provinces of this continent. Yet it is
far from being rare, and is one of the most elegant of the small trees
in our native forest; being allied to the mountain ash, branching in a
similar manner, but exhibiting a neater and more beautiful spray. It is
exclusively a Northern tree, and one of the earliest to put forth
flowers and leaves after the elm and the red maple. This tree is spread
over almost all the northern part of the American continent and the
Alleghany Mountains. From its habit of flowering at the time of the
annual appearance of the shad in our waters, it is very frequently
called the Shad-bush.
The Snowy Mespilus is one of those trees which botanists have described
under so many different names that I should shrink from the task, if the
duty were assigned me, of collecting all that have been applied to it.
But whenever there is much contrariety of opinion among botanists
respecting the generic rank and denomination of any plant, I usually
resort to its earliest botanical title. Indeed, I feel assured that the
nice distinctions upon which later botanists have founded its claims to
a different generic position are very much of the same nature as those
which divide theologians, whose ecclesiastical acuteness enables them to
discern a palpable difference in two doctrinal points, neither of which
to an unregenerate mind have any meaning at all. I therefore prefer to
call this tree a Mespilus, after Linnæus and Michaux, to save myself the
trouble of those infinitesimal investigations that might convince me of
the propriety of placing it in every one of a dozen other different
genera.
The Shad-bush is a small tree inclining to grow in clumps, instead of
making a single stem from the root, and is seldom quite so large or so
tall as the mountain ash. The leaves are small and alternate, resembling
those of a pear-tree, but more elegant, and covered with a soft silken
down on their first appearance; as the foliage ripens, it becomes smooth
and glossy. The flowers are white, but without beauty, growing in loose
panicles at the ends of the branches. The product of these flowers is a
small fruit, about the size of the common wild gooseberry, of a dark
crimson color and a very agreeable flavor. This fruit is used very
generally in the northern provinces, where the tree is larger and more
productive than in New England.