Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus murrayana |
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cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, purple leaf plum |
Murray's plum, Murray's plume |
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Habit | Trees, sometimes suckering, 40–80 dm, not or slightly thorny. | Shrubs, usually suckering, 5–30(–50) dm, ± thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, hairy. |
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 8–16 mm, usually hairy on both surfaces, sometimes only on adaxial surface, usually glandular distally, glands 1–4; blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, usually folded along midribs, 3.5–7.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute, abaxial surface glabrous or ± hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
1–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
Pedicels | (4–)10–18 mm, glabrous. |
4–14 mm, hairy. |
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, 2–2.5 mm, hairy externally; sepals erect to reflexed, ovate, 1.5–2 mm, margins glandular-toothed, abaxial surface glabrate or hairy, adaxial densely hairy at bases; petals white, obovate, 4–8 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. |
red with white dots, slightly to quite glaucous, globose, 10–18 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
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Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus murrayana |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, canyons, chaparral | Rocky stream banks, canyons, dry washes, fence rows |
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | 500–1500 m (1600–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MA; MD; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; WA; BC; ON; se Europe [Introduced in North America]
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TX |
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.) |
Prunus murrayana was long known only from trans-Pecos Texas. M. F. Enquist (1997) expanded the range by recognizing the similarity of these plants to plants from the Edwards Plateau, which he described as a hairy variety of P. rivularis and placed P. murrayana in synonymy. Sequence analysis of DNA from some of the same hairy plants collected by Enquist indicate that these plants are distinct from P. rivularis and are most similar to P. hortulana (J. R. Rohrer et al. 2008). Prunus murrayana is a smaller plant than P. hortulana, with smaller leaves and fruits. Also, P. murrayana suckers to form shrubby thickets; P. hortulana generally forms single trees. The twigs, pedicels, and hypanthium exteriors are hairy in P. murrayana and glabrous in P. hortulana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 382. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. rivularis var. pubescens | |
Name authority | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 4: 192. (1784) | E. J. Palmer: J. Arnold Arbor. 10: 38. (1929) |
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