TH: Rosaceae [Part II of II] ...

[RT Ellsberry <flora@Flora.Com>]

                                                              Tree-House
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 Rose Family
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    ... In the same genus are plum, peach, apricot, and almond
    (Prunus spp.)  Mostly found growing in the eastern United
    States, our native plums produce profuse white flowers
    in spring and small tart fruits good for jelly.  Culti-
    vated plums are grown for single or double white, pink,
    or mauve flowers; some cultivars have purple leaves.
    Wild plums attract large flocks of spring warblers.  The
    widely grown peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds
    are all important, but providing that you select disease-
    resistant varieties appropriate for your area, these
    are beautiful small trees for a naturalist's garden.

    Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) is prized for showy 2- to 3-
    inch-wide white to deep red flower clusters in spring
    and bright red to deep purple berries.  More than a
    hundred native hawthorns occupy habitats in every part
    of the country except the desert Southwest.  English
    hawthorn (C. laevigata) is also widely cultivated.
    Dense, thorny branches make hawthorns especially useful
    cover plants for birds and other wildlife.

    Mountain ash (Sorbus spp.) is another valuable plant for
    attracting at least fifteen species of birds and other
    wildlife to its showy, dense clusters of small red or
    orange fruits that persist into winter.  In spring both
    the American mountain ash (S. Americana) and European
    (S. aucuparia) produce white flowers in flat-topped clu-
    sters 4 to 7 inches wide.  The compound leaves turn red
    in fall.

    Serviceberry or shadbush (Amelanchier spp.) produces
    drooping clusters of white flowers in spring; purplish
    black fruit like small apples; and bright green, oval
    leaves that turn bright yellow, orange, and red in fall.
    Allegheny serviceberry (A. laevis) is one of the most
    favored "bird trees."  Several additional native service-
    berries are native to cool-climate areas of the West.
                                                - Ruth Shaw Ernst (1996)
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