Prunus angustifolia
Prunus domestica
Cherokee plum, Chickasaw plum, Chickasaw plume, Florida sand plum, sandhill plum
common garden plum, cultivated plum, European plum, prunier damas
with axillary end buds, glabrous.
with axillary end buds, usually hairy, sometimes glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole 2–14 mm, usually sparsely hairy on adaxial surface, rarely glabrous or hairy on both surfaces, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–2;
blade lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, usually folded along midribs, often ± falcate, 1.5–6 × 0.8–2 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins crenulate-serrulate, teeth blunt, glandular, glands reddish orange, conic, apex acute, abaxial surface glabrate with hairs along midribs and major veins, adaxial glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole 6–20 mm, glabrous or hairy on adaxial surface or both surfaces, eglandular or glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–3;
blade elliptic to obovate, (2.5–)4–7(–9) × 1.5–5 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acute to abruptly acuminate, sometimes obtuse, abaxial surface hairy (especially along veins), adaxial glabrous or midribs hairy.
2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.
3–10 mm, glabrous.
(2–)10–20 mm, glabrous or hairy.
blooming before, sometimes at, leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 1.5–3 mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy, externally;
sepals erect to spreading, ovate, 1–2 mm, margins entire, sparsely ciliate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy;
petals white, suborbiculate to obovate, 3–6 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
blooming before or at leaf emergence;
hypanthium cupulate, 3–5 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals spreading to reflexed, ovate-elliptic to lanceolate, 3.5–6 mm, margins glandular-toothed, ciliate, surfaces glabrous or hairy;
petals white, oblong to suborbiculate, 7–14 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
red to yellow, lightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 15–20 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, ± flattened.
blue-black (green, yellow, or red in cultivars), ellipsoid to globose, 15–35 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid to ellipsoid, strongly flattened.
= 16.
= 48.
Prunus angustifolia
Prunus domestica
A naturalized population of Prunus angustifolia in Santa Barbara County, California, has been extirpated.
Prunus angustifolia is one of the more distinctive plum species in North America. The leaves are relatively small, usually folded along their midribs, and have relatively large, reddish orange, conic glands along the margins. When it hybridizes with other plums, the hybrids often have distinctive characteristics and have been named as species more often than hybrids not involving P. angustifolia: P. ×orthosepala Koehne (angustifolia × americana), P. ×slavinii E. J. Palmer ex Rehder (angustifolia × gracilis), P. ×utahensis Koehne (angustifolia × pumila var. besseyi); see also discussion under 42. P. rivularis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The distinctions given in the literature between Prunus domestica and P. insititia, and which cultivated varieties are derived from each of them, are contradictory and confusing. After examining plants from North America, it seems best to treat these Eurasian introductions as one variable species without designation of infraspecific taxa.
European plums are grown along the West Coast, primarily in California, for prunes and other processed food. They are also grown in the Great Lakes region of Ontario, Michigan, and New York for both prunes and the local fresh market. Most of the commercial fresh plum market is supplied by fruits of the Japanese plum, Prunus salicina, and its hybrid derivatives, which include genetic material from native American species, for example, P. americana, P. angustifolia, and P. hortulana.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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