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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 armed.
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, simple;

stipules deciduous, free;

venation pinnate.

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.

perianth and androecium perigynous;

epicalyx bractlets absent;

hypanthium cup-shaped, obconic, campanulate, or tubular;

torus absent;

carpel 1, distinct, free, style terminal, distinct;

ovules 2 (1 abortive), apical, collateral (obturator present).

Fruits

drupes;

styles deciduous, not elongate.

Drupes

black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous;

mesocarps leathery;

stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open.

2n

= 32.

Prunus caroliniana

Rosaceae tribe Amygdaleae

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
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; Eurasia; Africa; Australia [Widely introduced]
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.)

Genus 1, species 200+ (44 in the flora).

The base chromosome number for Amygdaleae is x = 8.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 361. FNA vol. 9, p. 352. Author: Luc Brouillet.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae
Sibling taxa
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana
Name authority (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 2: 529. (1825)
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