Prunus caroliniana |
Prunus tomentosa |
|
---|---|---|
Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande |
Manchu cherry, Nanking cherry |
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, not suckering, 10–20 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with terminal end buds, densely hairy. |
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 2–7 mm, hairy, eglandular; blade obovate to oblong-elliptic, 3–6(–7.5) × 1.7–3.5(–4.7) cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins coarsely, singly to doubly serrate, teeth sharp, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular, glands dark, spheric, apex abruptly short-acuminate to acute, abaxial surface tomentose, adaxial rugose, hairy, sometimes sparsely so. |
Inflorescences | 12–30-flowered, racemes; central axes 13–30(–43) mm, leafless at bases. |
usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
Pedicels | 1–4 mm, glabrous. |
0–5 mm, hairy. |
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 or at leaf emergence; hypanthium tubular, 3.5–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy (especially at bases) externally; sepals spreading, ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm, margins serrate, sometimes glandular, abaxial surface hairy, adaxial glabrous; petals white to pale pink (pink in bud), obovate or elliptic to suborbiculate, 9–13 mm; ovaries glabrous proximally, villous distally. |
Drupes | black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open. |
red, globose, 8–15 mm, sparsely hairy; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid, not flattened. |
2n | = 32. |
= 16. |
Prunus caroliniana |
Prunus tomentosa |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting May–Nov. | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Stream bottoms, thickets, wooded uplands, maritime forests, naturalizing in urban woodlands | Roadsides, fencerows, vacant lots, riparian woods |
Elevation | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) | 50–500 m (200–1600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
|
IA; IL; MD; MI; MN; NE; NY; OH; PA; SD; UT; MB; ON; SK; Asia [Introduced in North America] |
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 tomentosa is cultivated as a landscape plant in hedges and as a background shrub because of its spreading habit and pale pink to white petals. It produces edible fruits that are said to make excellent jelly and juice. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 361. | FNA vol. 9, p. 372. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana | |
Name authority | (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) | Thunberg: in J. A. Murray, Syst. Veg. ed. 14, 464. (1784) |
Web links |