Prunus caroliniana |
Prunus ilicifolia |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande |
Catalina cherry, evergreen cherry, holly leaf cherry, islay |
|||||
Habit | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 10–150 dm, not thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
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. |
persistent; petiole 3–25 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade oblong-ovate to ovate-lanceolate or ovate to suborbiculate, 1.6–12 × 1.2–5(–7) cm, base usually broadly rounded to subcordate, sometimes obtuse, margins spinose-dentate to spinose-serrulate or entire, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, callus-tipped, sometimes glandular at leaf base, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial eglandular, if glands present, restricted to margins. |
||||
Inflorescences | 12–30-flowered, racemes; central axes 13–30(–43) mm, leafless at bases. |
15–40-flowered, racemes; central axes 30–80 mm, leafless at bases. |
||||
Pedicels | 1–4 mm, glabrous. |
1–5 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. |
blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect to spreading, triangular, 0.7–1.2 mm, margins entire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely with scattered hairs; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1–3 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
||||
Drupes | black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open. |
dark red to purple or blue-black, obovoid or ellipsoid to globose, 12–25 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened. |
||||
2n | = 32. |
|||||
Prunus caroliniana |
Prunus ilicifolia |
|||||
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
|
CA; nw Mexico
|
||||
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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 361. | FNA vol. 9, p. 362. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana | Cerasus ilicifolia | ||||
Name authority | (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) | (Nuttall ex Hooker & Arnott) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 3: 43. (1842) | ||||
Web links |