Prunus cerasifera |
Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae |
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cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, purple leaf plum |
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Habit | Trees, sometimes suckering, 40–80 dm, not or slightly thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes subshrubs or herbs. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
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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. |
alternate, sometimes opposite, simple, sometimes pinnately compound; stipules present or absent. |
Inflorescences | usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
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Pedicels | (4–)10–18 mm, glabrous. |
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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. |
torus absent or minute; carpels 1–5(–8), distinct or +/- connate (Maleae), free or +/- adnate to hypanthium (many Maleae), styles distinct or +/- connate (some Maleae); ovules (1 or)2(–5+), collateral, clustered, or biseriate. |
Fruits | follicles aggregated or not, capsules, drupes aggregated or not, aggregated drupelets, pomes, or aggregated nutlets, rarely achenes or aggregated achenes; styles persistent or deciduous, not elongate (elongate in Gillenieae). |
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Drupes | purple-red to yellow, sometimes glaucous, ovoid, ellipsoid, or globose, 15–30 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid to ovoid, ± to strongly flattened. |
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x | = 8, 9, 15, 17. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Prunus cerasifera |
Rosaceae subfam. amygdaloideae |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. | |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, canyons, chaparral | |
Elevation | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MA; MD; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; WA; BC; ON; se Europe [Introduced in North America]
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HI; North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; Europe; Asia; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Madeira); Australia |
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.) |
Cyanogenic glycosides are usually present in Amygdaloideae; sorbitol is present. The name Amygdaloideae Arnott (1832) has priority over Spiraeoideae Arnott (1832), used by D. Potter et al. (2007), because Amygdalaceae (1820) is an earlier conserved name. Tribes 9, genera 55, species ca. 1300 (9 tribes, 38 genera, 361 species, including 20 hybrids, in the flora) (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. | FNA vol. 9, p. 345. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Name authority | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 4: 192. (1784) | Arnott: Botany, 107. (1832) |
Web links |
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