Burke: Prunus persica vs. Prunus spinosa

	Prunus persica	Prunus spinosa
	peach	blackthorn
Habit		Deciduous, rigid, thorny shrub, 1-4 m. tall, often forming dense thickets; twigs blackish, often downy when young.
Leaves		Leaves alternate, elliptic-ovate to obovate, finely serrate, 2-4 cm. long, not shiny.
Flowers		Flowers solitary from each of the numerous nodes of the spur, appearing before the leaves; pedicels glabrous, 10-15 mm. long; calyx glabrous; petals 5, white, oblong-obovate, 5-7 mm. long.
Fruits		Drupe globose, deep bluish-purple, glaucous, 10-15 mm. broad; pit sub-globose, rough-pitted.

	Prunus persica	Prunus spinosa
Flowering time	April-June	April-May
Habitat	Thickets, shores, and disturbed ground.	Moist draws, thickets, hillsides, roadsides, and railroads.
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 in scattered locations on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to southern Oregon, east to Idaho. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from eastern Asia	Introduced from Eurasia and northern Africa
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. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. padus, P. persica, P. ×pugetensis, 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 spinosa

peach

blackthorn

Habit

Deciduous, rigid, thorny shrub, 1-4 m. tall, often forming dense thickets; twigs blackish, often downy when young.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, elliptic-ovate to obovate, finely serrate, 2-4 cm. long, not shiny.

Flowers

Flowers solitary from each of the numerous nodes of the spur, appearing before the leaves;

pedicels glabrous, 10-15 mm. long;

calyx glabrous;

petals 5, white, oblong-obovate, 5-7 mm. long.

Fruits

Drupe globose, deep bluish-purple, glaucous, 10-15 mm. broad; pit sub-globose, rough-pitted.

Prunus persica

Prunus spinosa

Flowering time

April-June

April-May

Habitat

Thickets, shores, and disturbed ground.

Moist draws, thickets, hillsides, roadsides, and railroads.

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]