Prunus caroliniana |
Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae |
|
---|---|---|
Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande |
|
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes subshrubs or herbs. |
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. |
alternate, sometimes opposite, simple, sometimes pinnately compound; stipules present or absent. |
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. |
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). |
|
Drupes | black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open. |
|
x | = 8, 9, 15, 17. |
|
2n | = 32. |
|
Prunus caroliniana |
Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae |
|
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
|
HI; North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; Europe; Asia; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Madeira); Australia |
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.) |
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. 361. | FNA vol. 9, p. 345. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana | |
Name authority | (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) | Arnott: Botany, 107. (1832) |
Web links |