Burke: Prunus virginiana vs. Prunus laurocerasus

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus laurocerasus
	common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry	laurel cherry, cherry-laurel
Habit	Deciduous, erect shrubs or small trees, 1-5 m. tall, the bark purplish-gray.	Tall, evergreen shrub with green twigs and alternate leaves.
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 leathery, large, up to 20 cm. long and 6 cm. broad, oval and pointed
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 many-flowered, erect, loose raceme; flowers white, about 1 cm. wide; stamens 20-30; pistil 1.
Fruits	Drupe ovoid, 8-11 mm. long, red to purple or black.	Drupe purple-black.

	Prunus virginiana	Prunus laurocerasus
Flowering time	May-July	April-June
Habitat	Thickets, open forest, shorelines, rocky slopes, and roadsides.	Fields, forest edge, roadsides, wastelots, 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 west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from Europe
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. emarginata, 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 laurocerasus

common chokecherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry

laurel cherry, cherry-laurel

Habit

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

Tall, evergreen shrub with green twigs and alternate leaves.

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 leathery, large, up to 20 cm. long and 6 cm. broad, oval and pointed

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 many-flowered, erect, loose raceme;

flowers white, about 1 cm. wide;

stamens 20-30;

pistil 1.

Fruits

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

Drupe purple-black.

Prunus virginiana

Prunus laurocerasus

Flowering time

May-July

April-June

Habitat

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

Fields, forest edge, roadsides, wastelots, 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]