Prunus angustifolia
Prunus maritima
Cherokee plum, Chickasaw plum, Chickasaw plume, Florida sand plum, sandhill plum
beach plum
with axillary end buds, glabrous.
with axillary end buds, densely hairy to glabrate.
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 3–11 mm, usually densely hairy, rarely hairy only on adaxial surface, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–2, discoid;
blade elliptic, broadly elliptic, or obovate (orbiculate in gravesii clone), 3.5–7 × 2–4 cm, base cuneate to obtuse (rounded in gravesii clone), margins finely, usually singly, rarely doubly, serrulate, teeth sharp, usually eglandular, rarely glandular, apex acute to obtuse (rounded in gravesii clone), abaxial surface usually hairy, sometimes only on veins or glabrescent, adaxial rugose, glabrous.
2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
3–10 mm, glabrous.
5–15 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 leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 2.5–3.5 mm, hairy externally;
sepals erect to spreading, ovate, 1.5–3.5 mm, margins entire, sometimes 2-fid at apices, ciliate, surfaces hairy;
petals white, oblong-obovate, 3–8 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
red to yellow, lightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 15–20 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, ± flattened.
red, yellow, dark blue, or purplish black, glaucous, globose, 11–18 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, slightly flattened.
= 16.
= 16.
Prunus angustifolia
Prunus maritima
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.)
Prunus gravesii has been known from only a single locality since its description in 1897, and there may never have been more than a single, multistemmed individual. G. J. Anderson (1980) concluded that it is a mutant derivative of P. maritima. In the study by Anderson, it differed with statistical significance from other specimens of P. maritima for only 4 of 38 morphological features measured, and even for those four the range in values between the two taxa overlapped. Their leaf flavonoid chromatograms were identical. From a conservation standpoint it is of value to designate the orbiculate-leaved gravesii clone as a distinct taxonomic variety, for which the name P. maritima var. gravesii (Small) G. J. Anderson is available. Once listed by the state of Connecticut as endangered, it is now believed to be extinct in the wild. Throughout much of its original range P. maritima is threatened by oceanside development.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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