Prunus caroliniana |
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Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
Leaves | persistent; petiole 5–8 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic or oblanceolate, 5–10 × 1.5–4 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire or spinose-serrate, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, eglandular, apex usually acute to short-acuminate, sometimes obtuse-apiculate, apicula acute, surfaces glabrous, abaxial glandular, glands 2, proximal, flat, circular to oval. |
Inflorescences | 12–30-flowered, racemes; central axes 13–30(–43) mm, leafless at bases. |
Pedicels | 1–4 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | usually bisexual, proximal sometimes staminate, blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals spreading, semicircular, 0.5–1 mm, margins usually entire, sometimes glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous; petals white, suborbiculate to elliptic, 1–1.5 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open. |
2n | = 32. |
Prunus caroliniana |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting May–Nov. |
Habitat | Stream bottoms, thickets, wooded uplands, maritime forests, naturalizing in urban woodlands |
Elevation | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
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Discussion | Prunus caroliniana is a popular ornamental for screens and trimmed hedges and is widely planted in the southeastern United States because of its lustrous, dark green foliage persistent through the seasons. The species was probably common as a native plant on the southeastern barrier islands; most inland occurrences represent escapes from cultivation. It rarely escapes from cultivation in California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 361. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana |
Name authority | (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) |
Web links |