Burke: Prunus avium vs. Prunus emarginata

	Prunus avium	Prunus emarginata
	sweet cherry	bitter cherry
Habit	Deciduous tree with peeling red-brown bark, to 25 m. tall.	Deciduous, straggly shrubs to erect, spreading trees 15 m. tall, the bark deep reddish-purple on the young twigs.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, oval and pointed, finely serrate, green above and somewhat downy beneath, with 2 conspicuous red glands at the top of the petiole.	Leaves alternate, the blades elliptic to oblong or obovate, finely serrate, 3-8 cm. long, with petioles 5-12 mm. long.
Flowers	Inflorescence a loose cluster of 2-6 flowers; petals 5, white, up to 15 mm. long; stamens 20-30; pistil 1.	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	Fruit a drupe, globose, yellow, becoming dark red, strongly acid.	Drupe dark red to nearly black, 8-12 mm. long, very bitter.

	Prunus avium	Prunus emarginata
Flowering time	April-May	April-June
Habitat	Forest edges, fields, wastelots, and other disturbed areas.	Thickets, rocky slopes, open forests, shorelines, and openings, from the lowlands to subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington, though distributed widely throughout the state; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, also in eastern North America. [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 Eurasia	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. americana, P. armeniaca, 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 avium

Prunus emarginata

sweet cherry

bitter cherry

Habit

Deciduous tree with peeling red-brown bark, to 25 m. tall.

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

Leaves

Leaves alternate, oval and pointed, finely serrate, green above and somewhat downy beneath, with 2 conspicuous red glands at the top of the petiole.

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

Flowers

Inflorescence a loose cluster of 2-6 flowers;

petals 5, white, up to 15 mm. long;

stamens 20-30;

pistil 1.

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

Fruit a drupe, globose, yellow, becoming dark red, strongly acid.

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

Prunus avium

Prunus emarginata

Flowering time

April-May

April-June

Habitat

Forest edges, fields, wastelots, and other disturbed areas.

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

Distribution

Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington, though distributed widely throughout the state; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, also in eastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]