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albaricoque, apricot, damasco, Siberian apricot

bitter cherry, Oregon cherry

Habit Trees, not suckering, 50–100 dm, not thorny. Shrubs or trees, often suckering, 10–150 dm, not thorny.
Twigs

with axillary end buds, glabrous.

with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy.

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 3–12 mm, glabrous or hairy, usually eglandular, rarely glandular distally, glands discoid;

blade elliptic, oblong, oblanceolate, or obovate, (1.5–)2–6(–8) × 1–3(–4.2) cm, base cuneate, margins crenate to serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually rounded to obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous or downy, abaxial often hairier.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers.

(3–)6–12-flowered, corymbs or racemes;

central axes (5–)9–30 mm.

Pedicels

1–3 mm, hairy.

3–12(–18) mm (subtended by leafy bracts), glabrous or hairy.

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 obconic, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous or hairy externally;

sepals reflexed, oblong, 1.5–2 mm, margins entire, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes hairy abaxially;

petals white, elliptic to obovate, 3–8 mm;

ovaries glabrous or with scattered hairs.

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 to ovoid, 7–14 mm, glabrous;

mesocarps fleshy;

stones ellipsoid, not flattened.

2n

= 16.

Prunus armeniaca

Prunus emarginata

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting May–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jul; fruiting Jun–Sep.
Habitat Roadsides, abandoned plantings Gravelly or sandy soil along streams, rocky mountain slopes, subalpine, thickets on exposed sites, cutover and burned areas, understory of conifer and oak forests
Elevation 20–1600 m (100–5200 ft) 0–3000 m (0–9800 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
AZ; CA; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
[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.)

H. J. Scoggan (1978–1979, part 3) included Prunus emarginata within P. pensylvanica. Given that much of the problem of separating P. emarginata from P. pensylvanica arises from intermediate plants found in British Columbia and western Montana where the ranges of the two species meet, this makes some sense from a Canadian perspective. When viewed from a continental perspective, P. emarginata normally does not look much like P. pensylvanica (see notes on their differences under 10. P. pensylvanica).

Individuals of Prunus emarginata vary considerably in their habit, size and shape of leaves, and indument on branchlets, inflorescences, and leaves. Many segregate species have been described based on this variation. Most often, western botanists have recognized one species with two varieties based on habit or indument; those characters are not well correlated. Some keys use habit to separate the varieties (var. emarginata, a shrub, versus var. mollis, a tree, commonly used in Pacific Northwest floras); others have used indument (var. emarginata, glabrous, versus var. mollis, hairy, more commonly used in floras of the arid West). On the mountain slopes in the more arid portions of its range, P. emarginata is a thicket-forming shrub to about 6 m with the leaves expanding to no more than 50 mm; in the moister, milder climates of coastal Oregon to British Columbia, as well as the interior wetbelt of northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and adjacent British Columbia, the plants are trees to 15 m with larger leaves expanding to 80 mm. Hairy plants occur throughout the range of P. emarginata, and glabrous plants are found from British Columbia to Arizona, generally not west of the Cascades.

Hybrids between Prunus emarginata and naturalized P. avium (P. ×pugetensis Jacobson & Zika) have been reported from the lowlands of western British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.

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

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 375. FNA vol. 9, p. 367.
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. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, 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 Cerasus emarginata, P. emarginata var. crenulata, P. emarginata var. mollis, P. pensylvanica var. mollis
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) (Douglas) Eaton: Man. Bot. ed. 7, 463. (1836)
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