Prunus armeniaca |
Prunus gracilis |
|
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albaricoque, apricot, damasco, Siberian apricot |
Oklahoma plum, Oklahoma plume |
|
Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–100 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, 3–15 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, densely 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 3–8 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. |
Inflorescences | solitary flowers. |
2–4(–6)-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
Pedicels | 1–3 mm, hairy. |
4–15 mm, 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 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. |
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. |
yellow, orange, or red, slightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 9–18 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Prunus armeniaca |
Prunus gracilis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting May–Jul. | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, abandoned plantings | Sandy roadsides, upland thickets, open woods, waste places |
Elevation | 20–1600 m (100–5200 ft) | 100–1300 m (300–4300 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; MI; MO; MT; NM; OR; PA; UT; VA; WA; Asia (China) [Introduced in North America]
|
AR; CO; KS; LA; NM; OK; TX |
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.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 380. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Armeniaca vulgaris | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) | Engelmann & A. Gray: Boston J. Nat. Hist. 5: 243. (1845) |
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