Prunus caroliniana |
Prunus havardii |
|
---|---|---|
Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande |
Havard's almond, Havard's plum |
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering unknown, much branched, 10–20 dm, thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, puberulent. |
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. |
deciduous; petiole 1–3 mm, glabrous or puberulent, eglandular; blade rhombic, obovate, or fan-shaped, 0.5–1.6(–2) × 0.2–0.8(–1.4) cm, base broadly obtuse or rounded to nearly truncate, margins serrate or dentate in distal 1/2, teeth blunt to sharp, some callus-tipped, rarely glandular, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces puberulent. |
Inflorescences | 12–30-flowered, racemes; central axes 13–30(–43) mm, leafless at bases. |
solitary flowers. |
Pedicels | 1–4 mm, glabrous. |
0 mm. |
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. |
unisexual, plants dioecious, blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals spreading to reflexed, triangular, 0.7–1 mm, margins entire, sparsely ciliate, surfaces glabrate; petals white, obovate, 2 mm; ovaries hairy. |
Drupes | black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open. |
reddish brown, ovoid, 8–11 mm, puberulent; hypanthium tardily deciduous; mesocarps leathery to dry (splitting); stones ovoid, slightly flattened. |
2n | = 32. |
|
Prunus caroliniana |
Prunus havardii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting May–Nov. | Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Stream bottoms, thickets, wooded uplands, maritime forests, naturalizing in urban woodlands | Draws, dry rocky slopes of canyons, limestone soil, igneous rock |
Elevation | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) | 700–1700 m (2300–5600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
|
TX; Mexico (Chihuahua) |
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.) |
Prunus havardii is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert of trans-Pecos Texas and across the Rio Grande in Mexico, with most collections from the Big Bend area. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 361. | FNA vol. 9, p. 371. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana | Amygdalus havardii |
Name authority | (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) | (W. Wight) S. C. Mason: J. Agric. Res. 1: 153, 176. (1913) |
Web links |