Prunus armeniaca |
Prunus murrayana |
|
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albaricoque, apricot, damasco, Siberian apricot |
Murray's plum, Murray's plume |
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Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–100 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, usually suckering, 5–30(–50) dm, ± thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, 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 8–16 mm, usually hairy on both surfaces, sometimes only on adaxial surface, usually glandular distally, glands 1–4; blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, usually folded along midribs, 3.5–7.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute, abaxial surface glabrous or ± hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | solitary flowers. |
1–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
Pedicels | 1–3 mm, hairy. |
4–14 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 at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–2.5 mm, hairy externally; sepals erect to reflexed, ovate, 1.5–2 mm, margins glandular-toothed, abaxial surface glabrate or hairy, adaxial densely hairy at bases; petals white, obovate, 4–8 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. |
red with white dots, slightly to quite glaucous, globose, 10–18 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
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Prunus armeniaca |
Prunus murrayana |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting May–Jul. | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, abandoned plantings | Rocky stream banks, canyons, dry washes, fence rows |
Elevation | 20–1600 m (100–5200 ft) | 500–1500 m (1600–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; MI; MO; MT; NM; OR; PA; UT; VA; WA; Asia (China) [Introduced in North America]
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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.) |
Prunus murrayana was long known only from trans-Pecos Texas. M. F. Enquist (1997) expanded the range by recognizing the similarity of these plants to plants from the Edwards Plateau, which he described as a hairy variety of P. rivularis and placed P. murrayana in synonymy. Sequence analysis of DNA from some of the same hairy plants collected by Enquist indicate that these plants are distinct from P. rivularis and are most similar to P. hortulana (J. R. Rohrer et al. 2008). Prunus murrayana is a smaller plant than P. hortulana, with smaller leaves and fruits. Also, P. murrayana suckers to form shrubby thickets; P. hortulana generally forms single trees. The twigs, pedicels, and hypanthium exteriors are hairy in P. murrayana and glabrous in P. hortulana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 382. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Armeniaca vulgaris | P. rivularis var. pubescens |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) | E. J. Palmer: J. Arnold Arbor. 10: 38. (1929) |
Web links |