Burke: Prunus armeniaca vs. Prunus emarginata

	Prunus armeniaca	Prunus emarginata
	apricot	bitter cherry
Habit		Deciduous, straggly shrubs to erect, spreading trees 15 m. tall, the bark deep reddish-purple on the young twigs.
Leaves		Leaves alternate, the blades elliptic to oblong or obovate, finely serrate, 3-8 cm. long, with petioles 5-12 mm. long.
Flowers		Inflorescence a few-flowered, flat-topped raceme; calyx cup-shaped, the 5 oblong-lanceolate lobes 2.5-3.5 mm. long; petals 5, white, obovate, 5-7 mm. long, pubescent on the lower surface; stamens about 20; pistil 1.
Fruits		Drupe dark red to nearly black, 8-12 mm. long, very bitter.

	Prunus armeniaca	Prunus emarginata
Flowering time	March-May	April-June
Habitat	Sagebrush desert, ledges, gravel or clay slopes, thickets, and shorelines	Thickets, rocky slopes, open forests, shorelines, and openings, from the lowlands to subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring in scattered locations on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, and in scattered areas eastward to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from China	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. americana, P. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. padus, P. persica, P. ×pugetensis, P. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis	P. americana, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. padus, P. persica, P. ×pugetensis, P. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Prunus emarginata

apricot

bitter cherry

Habit

Deciduous, straggly shrubs to erect, spreading trees 15 m. tall, the bark deep reddish-purple on the young twigs.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, the blades elliptic to oblong or obovate, finely serrate, 3-8 cm. long, with petioles 5-12 mm. long.

Flowers

Inflorescence a few-flowered, flat-topped raceme;

calyx cup-shaped, the 5 oblong-lanceolate lobes 2.5-3.5 mm. long;

petals 5, white, obovate, 5-7 mm. long, pubescent on the lower surface;

stamens about 20;

pistil 1.

Fruits

Drupe dark red to nearly black, 8-12 mm. long, very bitter.

Prunus emarginata

Flowering time

March-May

April-June

Habitat

Sagebrush desert, ledges, gravel or clay slopes, thickets, and shorelines

Thickets, rocky slopes, open forests, shorelines, and openings, from the lowlands to subalpine.

Distribution

Occurring in scattered locations on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, and in scattered areas eastward to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]