The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

albaricoque, apricot, damasco, Siberian apricot

cerisier acide, cultivated sour cherry, pie cherry, sour cherry

Habit Trees, not suckering, 50–100 dm, not thorny. Shrubs or trees, suckering, 30–50(–80) dm, not thorny.
Twigs

with axillary end buds, glabrous.

with terminal end buds, glabrous.

Leaves

deciduous;

petiole (12–)20–45 mm, glabrous, glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–5;

blade broadly ovate to suborbiculate, (3–)5–9 × (2–)4–8 cm, base usually obtuse to rounded, sometimes truncate or subcordate, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly short-acuminate, abaxial surface with tufts of hairs in vein axils, adaxial glabrous.

deciduous;

petiole 10–24 mm, glabrous, usually eglandular, sometimes with discoid marginal glands at bases of blades;

blade broadly elliptic to ovate or obovate, 4.4–6(–8) × 2.8–4(–6) cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acute to abruptly acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous or glabrate, adaxial glabrous.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers.

1–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.

Pedicels

1–3 mm, hairy.

8–37 mm, glabrous.

Flowers

blooming before leaf emergence;

hypanthium tubular-campanulate, 4–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy externally;

sepals reflexed, oblong-ovate, 4–6 mm, margins remotely glandular-toothed, surfaces sparsely hairy;

petals white (pink in bud), broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, 8–12 mm;

ovaries hairy.

blooming at leaf emergence;

hypanthium tubular-campanulate, 4–6 mm, glabrous externally;

sepals reflexed, oblong, 4–7 mm, margins regularly glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous;

petals white, suborbiculate, 10–14 mm;

ovaries glabrous.

Drupes

yellow to orange, often tinged with red, ellipsoid to globose, laterally compressed, 25–60 mm, velutinous;

mesocarps fleshy;

stones ellipsoid to subglobose, strongly flattened, not pitted.

bright red, globose, 13–20 mm, glabrous;

mesocarps fleshy;

stones subglobose, not flattened.

2n

= 16.

= 32.

Prunus armeniaca

Prunus cerasus

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting May–Jul. Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Jun–Jul.
Habitat Roadsides, abandoned plantings Roadsides, thickets, woodland borders, abandoned fields
Elevation 20–1600 m (100–5200 ft) 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; MI; MO; MT; NM; OR; PA; UT; VA; WA; Asia (China) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; VA; VT; WA; WV; BC; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Commercial production of apricots in North America is in the western United States, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley of California. There is little market for fresh apricots because of their extremely short shelf life; most fruits are preserved by drying.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Cultivars of Prunus cerasus with doubled flowers are used as landscape ornamentals. Most of the commercial sour cherry crop in North America comes from Michigan. Unlike sweet cherry, all widely grown varieties of sour cherry are self-fertile. Bud scales at the bases of the pedicels on flowering and immature fruiting specimens of P. cerasus often have leaflike apices and the inner scales are erect; in P. avium the scales are not leaflike and the inner ones are reflexed or spreading.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 375. FNA vol. 9, p. 368.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus
Sibling taxa
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Synonyms Armeniaca vulgaris
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753)
Web links