Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus nigra |
|
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cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, purple leaf plum |
black plum, Canada plum, Canadian plum, prunier noir |
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Habit | Trees, sometimes suckering, 40–80 dm, not or slightly thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 30–90 dm, moderately thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, usually glabrous, rarely 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 8–22 mm, glabrate with hairs adaxially, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–3, discoid; blade broadly elliptic to obovate, (5–)7–11 × 3–6.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded or subcordate, margins doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly acuminate, abaxial surface hairy along midribs and major veins, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
Pedicels | (4–)10–18 mm, glabrous. |
7–20 mm, usually glabrous, rarely 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 before or at leaf emergence; hypanthium red-tinged, obconic, 3–4(–5) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy externally; sepals broadly spreading to reflexed, ovate, 2–4(–5) mm, margins glandular-toothed, abaxial surface usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hairy, adaxial glabrous or hairy; petals white, often fading to pink, suborbiculate to oblong-obovate, 8–13 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, orange, or yellowish, barely glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 15–30 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid-ellipsoid, strongly flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Prunus cerasifera |
Prunus nigra |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. | Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Aug–Sep. |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, canyons, chaparral | Borders of deciduous woods, bottomland forests, roadside thickets |
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | 10–800 m (0–2600 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MA; MD; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; WA; BC; ON; se Europe [Introduced in North America]
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CT; IA; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MN; ND; NH; NY; OH; VT; WI; MB; NB; NS; ON; QC
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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.) |
In the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, Prunus nigra co-occurs with, and is sometimes confused with, P. americana, despite being distinct in both flower and leaf. The red-tinged hypanthia and sepals of P. nigra give the entire inflorescence a pinkish coloration even when the petals are pure white, and the sepals bear obvious glandular teeth along their margins; in P. americana the hypanthia and sepals are green and the sepals bear relatively few glandular teeth or are eglandular. The leaf marginal teeth of P. nigra are rounded and bear glands at their tips or have callus scars where the glands fell off; those of P. americana are acute and eglandular; some may have a callused tip. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 379. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 4: 192. (1784) | Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 165. (1789) |
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