Burke: Prunus virginiana vs. Prunus emarginata

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus emarginata
	common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry	bitter cherry
Habit	Deciduous, erect shrubs or small trees, 1-5 m. tall, the bark purplish-gray.	Deciduous, straggly shrubs to erect, spreading trees 15 m. tall, the bark deep reddish-purple on the young twigs.
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, the blades elliptic to oblong or obovate, finely serrate, 3-8 cm. long, with petioles 5-12 mm. 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.	Inflorescence a few-flowered, flat-topped raceme; calyx cup-shaped, the 5 oblong-lanceolate lobes 2.5-3.5 mm. long; petals 5, white, obovate, 5-7 mm. long, pubescent on the lower surface; stamens about 20; pistil 1.
Fruits	Drupe ovoid, 8-11 mm. long, red to purple or black.	Drupe dark red to nearly black, 8-12 mm. long, very bitter.

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus emarginata
Flowering time	May-July	April-June
Habitat	Thickets, open forest, shorelines, rocky slopes, and roadsides.	Thickets, rocky slopes, open forests, shorelines, and openings, from the lowlands to subalpine.
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 on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
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. domestica, P. dulcis, 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, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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

Prunus virginiana

Prunus emarginata

common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry

bitter cherry

Habit

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

Deciduous, straggly shrubs to erect, spreading trees 15 m. tall, the bark deep reddish-purple on the young twigs.

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, the blades elliptic to oblong or obovate, finely serrate, 3-8 cm. long, with petioles 5-12 mm. 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.

Inflorescence a few-flowered, flat-topped raceme;

calyx cup-shaped, the 5 oblong-lanceolate lobes 2.5-3.5 mm. long;

petals 5, white, obovate, 5-7 mm. long, pubescent on the lower surface;

stamens about 20;

pistil 1.

Fruits

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

Drupe dark red to nearly black, 8-12 mm. long, very bitter.

Prunus virginiana

Prunus emarginata

Flowering time

May-July

April-June

Habitat

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

Thickets, rocky slopes, open forests, shorelines, and openings, from the lowlands to subalpine.

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]