Prunus angustifolia
Prunus gracilis
Cherokee plum, Chickasaw plum, Chickasaw plume, Florida sand plum, sandhill plum
Oklahoma plum, Oklahoma plume
with axillary end buds, glabrous.
with axillary end buds, densely hairy.
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 3–8 mm, densely hairy, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–3, discoid;
blade usually ovate or elliptic, rarely obovate, 2–5(–7) × 1–2.5(–3.6) cm, base obtuse to cuneate, margins finely, singly or doubly serrulate, teeth sharp, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular, glands blackish, spheric, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface densely hairy, adaxial sparsely hairy.
2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
2–4(–6)-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
3–10 mm, glabrous.
4–15 mm, 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 campanulate, 2–3 mm, hairy externally;
sepals erect to spreading, ovate-oblong, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins usually entire, sometimes glandular-toothed or eglandular, sometimes ciliate, surfaces hairy;
petals white, oblong to obovate, 4–7 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
red to yellow, lightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 15–20 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, ± flattened.
yellow, orange, or red, slightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 9–18 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened.
= 16.
Prunus angustifolia
Prunus gracilis
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.)
Typically, sepals of Prunus gracilis are eglandular; in some specimens, glands occur along the margins. Similar glands are sometimes found on the tips of teeth along the leaf margins. The teeth are always sharp-pointed rather than blunt or rounded as they are in those plums whose leaves consistently have glandular teeth. Presence of glands on the sepals is not correlated with glands on leaf marginal teeth. Prunus gracilis, native to the southern Great Plains, is very similar to P. maritima, a plum of the eastern seaboard over 1600 km away.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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