Prunus domestica |
Prunus fremontii |
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common garden plum, cultivated plum, European plum, prunier damas |
desert apricot |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 20–60(–100) dm, not or slightly thorny. | Shrubs, suckering unknown, much branched, 10–40 dm, thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, usually hairy, sometimes glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 6–20 mm, glabrous or hairy on adaxial surface or both surfaces, eglandular or glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–3; blade elliptic to obovate, (2.5–)4–7(–9) × 1.5–5 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acute to abruptly acuminate, sometimes obtuse, abaxial surface hairy (especially along veins), adaxial glabrous or midribs hairy. |
deciduous; petiole 1–7 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade elliptic, ovate, or suborbiculate, 0.6–3 × 0.5–2 cm, base obtuse to rounded, subcordate, or truncate, margins obscurely crenulate, crenulate-serrulate, or serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually obtuse to rounded, sometimes emarginate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
1–3-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
Pedicels | (2–)10–20 mm, glabrous or hairy. |
2–12 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | blooming before or at leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 3–5 mm, glabrous externally; sepals spreading to reflexed, ovate-elliptic to lanceolate, 3.5–6 mm, margins glandular-toothed, ciliate, surfaces glabrous or hairy; petals white, oblong to suborbiculate, 7–14 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–4 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading, semicircular to ovate, 1.2–4 mm, margins glandular-toothed, ciliate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy; petals usually white, sometimes pinkish rose, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 3–10 mm; ovaries hairy. |
Drupes | blue-black (green, yellow, or red in cultivars), ellipsoid to globose, 15–35 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid to ellipsoid, strongly flattened. |
yellowish, ellipsoid-ovoid, 8–15 mm, densely puberulent; mesocarps leathery to dry (splitting); stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
2n | = 48. |
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Prunus domestica |
Prunus fremontii |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Aug–Sep. | Flowering Jan–Mar; fruiting Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Roadsides, fencerows, abandoned homesites | Dry, sandy or rocky slopes, canyons, desert, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands |
Elevation | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) | 200–1500 m (700–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; CT; DE; ID; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; NH; NJ; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; UT; VA; VT; WA; NB; NS; ON; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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Discussion | The distinctions given in the literature between Prunus domestica and P. insititia, and which cultivated varieties are derived from each of them, are contradictory and confusing. After examining plants from North America, it seems best to treat these Eurasian introductions as one variable species without designation of infraspecific taxa. European plums are grown along the West Coast, primarily in California, for prunes and other processed food. They are also grown in the Great Lakes region of Ontario, Michigan, and New York for both prunes and the local fresh market. Most of the commercial fresh plum market is supplied by fruits of the Japanese plum, Prunus salicina, and its hybrid derivatives, which include genetic material from native American species, for example, P. americana, P. angustifolia, and P. hortulana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Prunus fremontii is known only from the western edge of the Sonoran Desert. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 376. | FNA vol. 9, p. 373. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. domestica subsp. insititia, P. domestica var. insititia, P. insititia | P. eriogyna |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 475. (1753) | S. Watson: in W. H. Brewer et al., Bot. California 2: 442. (1880) |
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