Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus myrtifolia |
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cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, purple leaf plum |
West Indian cherry, West Indies or myrtle laurel cherry |
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Habit | Trees, sometimes suckering, 40–80 dm, not or slightly thorny. | Trees, not suckering, 60–120 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. |
persistent; petiole 8–16 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade elliptic to broadly elliptic, 4–10 × 2–4.5(–6.5) cm, base cuneate, obtuse, or nearly rounded, margins undulate, entire, apex acute to acuminate, apicula obtuse, surfaces glabrous, abaxial glandular, glands 2, proximal, flat, circular to oval. |
Inflorescences | usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
12–30-flowered, racemes; central axes (11–)20–50 mm, leafless at bases. |
Pedicels | (4–)10–18 mm, glabrous. |
(2–)3–6 mm, glabrous. |
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. |
usually bisexual, proximal sometimes staminate, blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 1.5–2.5 mm, glabrous externally; sepals spreading, semicircular, 0.5–0.8 mm, margins usually entire, occassionally with a glandular tooth, surfaces glabrous; petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, 1.5 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. |
purple-black, globose to ± ovoid, 8–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
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Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus myrtifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. | Flowering Nov–Jan; fruiting Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, canyons, chaparral | Hammocks, pinelands |
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | 0–10 m (0–0 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MA; MD; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; WA; BC; ON; se Europe [Introduced in North America]
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FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies |
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 myrtifolia, when compared with P. caroliniana, has flowers more widely spaced on longer rachises and pedicels, and flowers in the winter rather than the spring. The leaves of P. myrtifolia are broader on average, and their apices are blunt at the tip; the fruits are more rounded at the apices with smaller apicula. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 361. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Celastrus myrtifolius, Lauro-cerasus myrtifolia | |
Name authority | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 4: 192. (1784) | (Linnaeus) Urban: Symb. Antill. 5: 93. (1904) |
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