Prunus cerasus |
Prunus caroliniana |
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cerisier acide, cultivated sour cherry, pie cherry, sour cherry |
Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, suckering, 30–50(–80) dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 10–24 mm, glabrous, usually eglandular, sometimes with discoid marginal glands at bases of blades; blade broadly elliptic to ovate or obovate, 4.4–6(–8) × 2.8–4(–6) cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acute to abruptly acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous or glabrate, adaxial glabrous. |
persistent; petiole 5–8 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic or oblanceolate, 5–10 × 1.5–4 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire or spinose-serrate, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, eglandular, apex usually acute to short-acuminate, sometimes obtuse-apiculate, apicula acute, surfaces glabrous, abaxial glandular, glands 2, proximal, flat, circular to oval. |
Inflorescences | 1–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
12–30-flowered, racemes; central axes 13–30(–43) mm, leafless at bases. |
Pedicels | 8–37 mm, glabrous. |
1–4 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium tubular-campanulate, 4–6 mm, glabrous externally; sepals reflexed, oblong, 4–7 mm, margins regularly glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous; petals white, suborbiculate, 10–14 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
usually bisexual, proximal sometimes staminate, blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals spreading, semicircular, 0.5–1 mm, margins usually entire, sometimes glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous; petals white, suborbiculate to elliptic, 1–1.5 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | bright red, globose, 13–20 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open. |
2n | = 32. |
= 32. |
Prunus cerasus |
Prunus caroliniana |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Jun–Jul. | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting May–Nov. |
Habitat | Roadsides, thickets, woodland borders, abandoned fields | Stream bottoms, thickets, wooded uplands, maritime forests, naturalizing in urban woodlands |
Elevation | 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CA; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; VA; VT; WA; WV; BC; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
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Discussion | Cultivars of Prunus cerasus with doubled flowers are used as landscape ornamentals. Most of the commercial sour cherry crop in North America comes from Michigan. Unlike sweet cherry, all widely grown varieties of sour cherry are self-fertile. Bud scales at the bases of the pedicels on flowering and immature fruiting specimens of P. cerasus often have leaflike apices and the inner scales are erect; in P. avium the scales are not leaflike and the inner ones are reflexed or spreading. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Prunus caroliniana is a popular ornamental for screens and trimmed hedges and is widely planted in the southeastern United States because of its lustrous, dark green foliage persistent through the seasons. The species was probably common as a native plant on the southeastern barrier islands; most inland occurrences represent escapes from cultivation. It rarely escapes from cultivation in California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 368. | FNA vol. 9, p. 361. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) | (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) |
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