Prunus avium |
Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae |
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cerisier des oiseaux, sweet cherry, wild cherry |
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Habit | Trees, not suckering, 60–200 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes subshrubs or herbs. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
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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. |
alternate, sometimes opposite, simple, sometimes pinnately compound; stipules present or absent. |
Inflorescences | 1–3-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
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Pedicels | (14–)25–52 mm, glabrous. |
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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. |
torus absent or minute; carpels 1–5(–8), distinct or +/- connate (Maleae), free or +/- adnate to hypanthium (many Maleae), styles distinct or +/- connate (some Maleae); ovules (1 or)2(–5+), collateral, clustered, or biseriate. |
Fruits | follicles aggregated or not, capsules, drupes aggregated or not, aggregated drupelets, pomes, or aggregated nutlets, rarely achenes or aggregated achenes; styles persistent or deciduous, not elongate (elongate in Gillenieae). |
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Drupes | dark red to purplish black, globose, 13–30 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
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x | = 8, 9, 15, 17. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Prunus avium |
Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Jun–Jul. | |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, forest edges, disturbed forests | |
Elevation | 0–1600 m (0–5200 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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HI; North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; Europe; Asia; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Madeira); Australia |
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.) |
Cyanogenic glycosides are usually present in Amygdaloideae; sorbitol is present. The name Amygdaloideae Arnott (1832) has priority over Spiraeoideae Arnott (1832), used by D. Potter et al. (2007), because Amygdalaceae (1820) is an earlier conserved name. Tribes 9, genera 55, species ca. 1300 (9 tribes, 38 genera, 361 species, including 20 hybrids, in the flora) (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 368. | FNA vol. 9, p. 345. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. cerasus var. avium | |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Fl. Suec. ed. 2, 165. (1755) | Arnott: Botany, 107. (1832) |
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