Burke: Prunus virginiana vs. Prunus domestica

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus domestica
	common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry	cultivated plum
Habit	Deciduous, erect shrubs or small trees, 1-5 m. tall, the bark purplish-gray.
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.
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.
Fruits	Drupe ovoid, 8-11 mm. long, red to purple or black.

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus domestica
Flowering time	May-July	March-May
Habitat	Thickets, open forest, shorelines, rocky slopes, and roadsides.	Fields, roadsides, forest openings, abandoned homesteads, and other disturbed areas.
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 chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho and Utah; in scattered locations of central and northeastern U.S. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	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. persica, P. ×pugetensis, P. spinosa, P. tomentosa, P. yedoensis	P. americana, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, 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: 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 virginiana

Prunus domestica

common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry

cultivated plum

Habit

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

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.

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.

Fruits

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

Prunus virginiana

Prunus domestica

Flowering time

May-July

March-May

Habitat

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

Fields, roadsides, forest openings, abandoned homesteads, and other disturbed areas.

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 chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho and Utah; in scattered locations of central and northeastern U.S.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Native

Introduced from Eurasia

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa