Prunus avium |
Prunus gracilis |
|
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cerisier des oiseaux, sweet cherry, wild cherry |
Oklahoma plum, Oklahoma plume |
|
Habit | Trees, not suckering, 60–200 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, 3–15 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, densely hairy. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole (14–)20–40 mm, nearly glabrous or sparsely hairy adaxially, glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–3, discoid; blade oblong, elliptic-obovate, or obovate, (4–)7–14 × (2.5–)4–8.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly short-acuminate, abaxial surface moderately hairy (especially midribs and veins), 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 | 1–3-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
2–4(–6)-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
Pedicels | (14–)25–52 mm, glabrous. |
4–15 mm, hairy. |
Flowers | blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium tubular-urceolate, 5–7 mm, glabrous externally; sepals reflexed, oblong, 4–6 mm, margins entire or sparsely and irregularly toothed, surfaces glabrous; petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, 12–15 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
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 | dark red to purplish black, globose, 13–30 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
yellow, orange, or red, slightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 9–18 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Prunus avium |
Prunus gracilis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Jun–Jul. | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, forest edges, disturbed forests | Sandy roadsides, upland thickets, open woods, waste places |
Elevation | 0–1600 m (0–5200 ft) | 100–1300 m (300–4300 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; ID; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; UT; VA; WA; WV; WY; BC; NB; NS; ON; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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AR; CO; KS; LA; NM; OK; TX |
Discussion | Cultivars of Prunus avium are grown in North America both for their attractive flowers, especially where the Japanese ornamental cherries are not hardy, and for their sweet fruits. Most of the sweet cherry crop in North America is grown in the Pacific Coast states and in Michigan and Ontario. Most varieties are self-incompatible and require pollen from a variety in a different incompatibility group in order to set fruits. (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. 368. | FNA vol. 9, p. 380. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. cerasus var. avium | |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Fl. Suec. ed. 2, 165. (1755) | Engelmann & A. Gray: Boston J. Nat. Hist. 5: 243. (1845) |
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