Burke: Prunus persica vs. Prunus avium

	Prunus persica	Prunus avium
	peach	sweet cherry
Habit		Deciduous tree with peeling red-brown bark, to 25 m. tall.
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.
Flowers		Inflorescence a loose cluster of 2-6 flowers; petals 5, white, up to 15 mm. long; stamens 20-30; pistil 1.
Fruits		Fruit a drupe, globose, yellow, becoming dark red, strongly acid.

	Prunus persica	Prunus avium
Flowering time	April-June	April-May
Habitat	Thickets, shores, and disturbed ground.	Forest edges, fields, wastelots, and other disturbed areas.
Distribution	Occurring in scattered locations on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California, east to Idaho; also in eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	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]
Origin	Introduced from eastern Asia	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. americana, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. padus, P. ×pugetensis, P. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis	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
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 persica

Prunus avium

peach

sweet cherry

Habit

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

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.

Flowers

Inflorescence a loose cluster of 2-6 flowers;

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

stamens 20-30;

pistil 1.

Fruits

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

Prunus persica

Prunus avium

Flowering time

April-June

April-May

Habitat

Thickets, shores, and disturbed ground.

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

Distribution

Occurring in scattered locations on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California, east to Idaho; also in eastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

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]

Origin

Introduced from eastern Asia

Introduced from Eurasia

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa