Burke: Prunus cerasifera vs. Prunus mahaleb

	Prunus cerasifera	Prunus mahaleb
	cherry plum	mahaleb cherry, perfumed cherry
Habit	Deciduous, glabrous and spineless shrub or small tree with glossy, green twigs.	Spreading tree to 10 m. tall, the twigs pubescent, the bark grayish-red.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, oval, finely serrate, 4-7 cm. long, shiny, green or red-purple.	Leaves alternate, deciduous, the petioles puberulent, 8-15 mm. long, the blades oval to broadly elliptic-ovate, 2-5 cm. long, abruptly acute, with fine, rounded, gland-tipped teeth, glabrous and pale green.
Flowers	Flowers appearing with the leaves; petals 5, white or pink; stamens 20-30; pistil 1.	Flowers 4-12 in short, leafy-bracteate racemes, the pedicels up to 2 cm. long; calyx greenish-white, the 5 lobes entire, oblong-lanceolate, 3 mm. long, equal to the tube; petals 5, white, oblanceolate, 7-9 mm. long; stamens about 20; pistil 1, simple.
Fruits	Globose drupe, yellow or red.	Drupe ovate, 6-8 mm. long, nearly black.
Comments	Naturalizes from ornamental purple-leaved, pink-flowered selections.

	Prunus cerasifera	Prunus mahaleb
Flowering time	March-April	May - June
Habitat	Open, disturbed areas typically at low elevations.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington, but also in southeastern Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho; also in northeastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Ocurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana, Idaho, Utah, and also in the eastern United States. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. americana, P. armeniaca, P. avium, 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. emarginata, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. padus, P. persica, P. ×pugetensis, P. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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, 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

Prunus mahaleb

cherry plum

mahaleb cherry, perfumed cherry

Habit

Deciduous, glabrous and spineless shrub or small tree with glossy, green twigs.

Spreading tree to 10 m. tall, the twigs pubescent, the bark grayish-red.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, oval, finely serrate, 4-7 cm. long, shiny, green or red-purple.

Leaves alternate, deciduous, the petioles puberulent, 8-15 mm. long, the blades oval to broadly elliptic-ovate, 2-5 cm. long, abruptly acute, with fine, rounded, gland-tipped teeth, glabrous and pale green.

Flowers

Flowers appearing with the leaves;

petals 5, white or pink;

stamens 20-30;

pistil 1.

Flowers 4-12 in short, leafy-bracteate racemes, the pedicels up to 2 cm. long;

calyx greenish-white, the 5 lobes entire, oblong-lanceolate, 3 mm. long, equal to the tube;

petals 5, white, oblanceolate, 7-9 mm. long;

stamens about 20;

pistil 1, simple.

Fruits

Globose drupe, yellow or red.

Drupe ovate, 6-8 mm. long, nearly black.

Comments

Naturalizes from ornamental purple-leaved, pink-flowered selections.

Prunus cerasifera

Prunus mahaleb

Flowering time

March-April

May - June

Habitat

Open, disturbed areas typically at low elevations.

Distribution

Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington, but also in southeastern Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho; also in northeastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Ocurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana, Idaho, Utah, and also in the eastern United States.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Introduced

Introduced from Eurasia

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa