Burke: Prunus virginiana vs. Prunus americana

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus americana
	common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry	American plum, wild plum
Habit	Deciduous, erect shrubs or small trees, 1-5 m. tall, the bark purplish-gray.	Shrub or small tree, 1-10 m. tall, some of the branches sharp-pointed, the bark deep brownish-purple.
Leaves	Leaf blades elliptic to oblong-obovate, finely serrate, 4-10 cm. long, bright green and glabrous on the upper surface, paler and glabrous to pubescent beneath.	Leaves alternate, deciduous, the petioles stout, pubescent, 5-12 mm. long, the blades lanceolate to elliptic, acuminate, acute at the base, serrate, glabrous, often hairy beneath, 4-10 cm. long.
Flowers	Inflorescence a terminal, pendant, many-flowered raceme, the uniform pedicels 4-8 mm. long; calyx glabrous, the 5 lobes spreading to recurved, oval, finely glandular, 1-1.5 mm. long; petals 5, creamy white, sub-orbicular, early-deciduous, 4-6 mm. long; stamens about 25; pistil 1.	Flowers 2-4 in umbels, the pedicels slender; calyx reddish tinged, the 5 lobes 2.5-3.5 mm. long, about equal to the tube, pubescent on the upper surface, oblong-lanceolate, serrulate; petals 5, white, elliptic-oblong, 7-9 mm. long; stamens about 25; pistil 1, simple.
Fruits	Drupe ovoid, 8-11 mm. long, red to purple or black.	Drupe orange to purplish-red, the flesh yellow, 1.8-2.5 cm. long.

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus americana
Flowering time	May-July	April-May
Habitat	Thickets, open forest, shorelines, rocky slopes, and roadsides.	Along watercourses, and on open or wooded, moist or dry areas from the plains into the lower mountains.
Distribution	Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in southcentral and southeastern Washington; Washington to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains, and further east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native and introduced from further east of Washington
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. persica, P. ×pugetensis, P. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. yedoensis	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. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: 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	Local floras: 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 virginiana

Prunus americana

common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry

American plum, wild plum

Habit

Deciduous, erect shrubs or small trees, 1-5 m. tall, the bark purplish-gray.

Shrub or small tree, 1-10 m. tall, some of the branches sharp-pointed, the bark deep brownish-purple.

Leaves

Leaf blades elliptic to oblong-obovate, finely serrate, 4-10 cm. long, bright green and glabrous on the upper surface, paler and glabrous to pubescent beneath.

Leaves alternate, deciduous, the petioles stout, pubescent, 5-12 mm. long, the blades lanceolate to elliptic, acuminate, acute at the base, serrate, glabrous, often hairy beneath, 4-10 cm. long.

Flowers

Inflorescence a terminal, pendant, many-flowered raceme, the uniform pedicels 4-8 mm. long;

calyx glabrous, the 5 lobes spreading to recurved, oval, finely glandular, 1-1.5 mm. long;

petals 5, creamy white, sub-orbicular, early-deciduous, 4-6 mm. long;

stamens about 25;

pistil 1.

Flowers 2-4 in umbels, the pedicels slender;

calyx reddish tinged, the 5 lobes 2.5-3.5 mm. long, about equal to the tube, pubescent on the upper surface, oblong-lanceolate, serrulate;

petals 5, white, elliptic-oblong, 7-9 mm. long;

stamens about 25;

pistil 1, simple.

Fruits

Drupe ovoid, 8-11 mm. long, red to purple or black.

Drupe orange to purplish-red, the flesh yellow, 1.8-2.5 cm. long.

Prunus virginiana

Prunus americana

Flowering time

May-July

April-May

Habitat

Thickets, open forest, shorelines, rocky slopes, and roadsides.

Along watercourses, and on open or wooded, moist or dry areas from the plains into the lower mountains.

Distribution

Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in southcentral and southeastern Washington; Washington to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains, and further east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Native and introduced from further east of Washington

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa