Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus glandulosa |
|
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cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, purple leaf plum |
dwarf flowering almond, flowering almond |
|
Habit | Trees, sometimes suckering, 40–80 dm, not or slightly thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, 5–20 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 5–20 mm, glabrous except for a few hairs on adaxial surface, eglandular; blade ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 3–7 × 1.5–3.5 cm, base obtuse, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex obtuse to acute, abaxial surface hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous. |
deciduous; petiole 1–6 mm, hairy on adaxial surface, eglandular; blade narrowly elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 2.5–9 × 0.9–2.5 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins crenulate-serrulate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous or slightly hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
Pedicels | (4–)10–18 mm, glabrous. |
6–15 mm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
Flowers | blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–4 mm, glabrous externally; sepals reflexed to spreading, oblong-ovate, 2–4 mm, margins glandular-toothed to nearly entire, eciliate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy at bases; petals white (reddish pink in cultivars), elliptic to suborbiculate, 7–14 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent externally; sepals spreading to reflexed, ovate, 2.5–5 mm, margins glandular-toothed, ± ciliate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely puberulent; petals 25+, white or pink, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 8–11 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | purple-red to yellow, sometimes glaucous, ovoid, ellipsoid, or globose, 15–30 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid to ovoid, ± to strongly flattened. |
reddish, subglobose, 10–15 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus glandulosa |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, canyons, chaparral | Roadsides, fencerows, abandoned plantings |
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | 0–400 m (0–1300 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MA; MD; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; WA; BC; ON; se Europe [Introduced in North America]
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IA; MI; NC; ON; e Asia (China, Japan) [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | The purple-leaved, pink-flowered cultivars of Prunus cerasifera are especially popular for ornamental use. The earliest purple form was introduced into European gardens about 1880 by M. Pissard, gardener to the Shah of Iran. Prunus cerasifera is widely used as a rootstock for commercial plums. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Double-flowered cultivars of Prunus glandulosa, which lack stamens and carpels, are commonly planted as foundation shrubs and in borders. Although the plants are attractive in bloom, some horticulturalists consider them of little ornamental value otherwise. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 377. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 4: 192. (1784) | Thunberg: in J. A. Murray, Syst. Veg. ed. 14, 463. (1784) |
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