Prunus dulcis
Prunus pensylvanica
almond, almond tree, amandier, sweet almond
bird cherry, cerisier de pennsylvanie, fire cherry, petit merisier, pin cherry, pin or bird or fire cherry
with terminal end buds, glabrous.
with terminal end buds, glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole (8–)10–25 mm, usually winged distally, glabrous, usually glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades;
blade oblong to lanceolate, 2.5–10 × 1–3 cm, base obtuse, margins crenulate-serrulate to crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole (7–)9–20 mm, glabrous, glandular distally, glands 1–3;
blade elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate, (2.5–)4.5–10(–14) × 1.5–5 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margins crenulate to crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute (western specimens), surfaces glabrous.
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.
2–5(–8)-flowered, umbellate fascicles or corymbs;
central axes 0–8(–24) mm.
1–5 mm, glabrous.
(8–)10–30 mm (subtended by minute bracts), glabrous.
blooming before leaf emergence;
hypanthium cupulate, 4–7 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals erect-spreading to spreading, oblong-ovate, 4–8 mm, margins entire, tomentose, surfaces glabrous;
petals pink to nearly white, obovate, elliptic, or suborbiculate, 12–25 mm;
ovaries hairy.
blooming at leaf emergence;
hypanthium obconic, 1.8–3 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals reflexed, oblong, 1.2–2.8 mm, margins entire, surfaces glabrous;
petals white, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 4–7 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
gray-green, ovoid-oblong, compressed, 25–40 mm, velutinous;
mesocarps leathery (splitting);
stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, pitted.
bright red, ellipsoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ellipsoid, not flattened.
= 16.
= 16.
Prunus dulcis
Prunus pensylvanica
The United States now dominates world almond production with over 40% of the annual crop, all of it grown in or near the Central Valley of California. The in-shell “nuts” sold in stores are the pits of drupes with the leathery mesocarp removed. Almond is among the earliest blossoming trees and one of the first signs of spring in areas where it is grown.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Throughout most of its range, Prunus pensylvanica appears distinct from P. emarginata. The leaves of P. pensylvanica are generally larger and lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate rather than oblanceolate to elliptic; the leaf apices are usually acuminate (sometimes acute) versus rounded to obtuse (rarely acute) in P. emarginata. Inflorescences of P. pensylvanica are corymbose to umbellate with central axes shorter than pedicels; in P. emarginata the inflorescences are corymbose to racemose with central axes longer than pedicels. Where their ranges overlap in British Columbia and western Montana, intermediates are found with the corymbose inflorescence of P. emarginata and leaves more comfortably accommodated within the variation of P. pensylvanica. Some of these specimens have been identified as P. corymbulosa, based on a type from Montana, here included within P. pensylvanica.
Along the eastern slopes of the Rockies and throughout the northwestern Great Plains, Prunus pensylvanica is shrubby and has smaller leaves (less than 60 mm) than it does farther east. Compared to leaves of eastern plants, those of western specimens are also broader in proportion to their length (1.7–2.3:1 versus 2–4.3:1), have acute rather than acuminate apices, and tend to be more coarsely toothed. Although sometimes segregated as var. saximontana, or subsp. corymbulosa, when having a corymbose inflorescence, these plants fit within the variation in plant habit, leaf size, leaf shape, and margin serration seen throughout the broad range of P. pensylvanica.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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