Prunus dulcis |
Prunus serotina |
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almond, almond tree, amandier, sweet almond |
black cherry, black chokecherry, cerisier tardif ou d'automne, merisier, rum cherry |
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Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–80 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–400 dm, not thorny. | ||||||||
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy. |
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Leaves | 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 2–23(–30) mm, glabrous or sparsely to densely hairy, usually glandular distally or at petiole-blade junction, glands 1–6; blade usually narrowly elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or obovate, sometimes lanceolate, rarely ovate, 2–13.5 × 1.1–6.5 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margins crenulate-serrulate to serrate, teeth incurved or appressed, sharp or blunt, glandular or callus-tipped, apex usually acute to acuminate, sometimes obtuse, rounded to emarginate in var. alabamensis, lateral veins 15–30 per side, flush abaxially, abaxial surface usually densely hairy along midribs proximally, sometimes glabrous or sparsely hairy, adaxial glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
18–55(–90)-flowered, racemes; central axes (25–)35–160 mm, leafy at bases. |
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Pedicels | 1–5 mm, glabrous. |
1–10 mm, glabrous or hairy. |
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Flowers | 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 after leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading to reflexed, semicircular, 0.5–1.5 mm, margins usually entire, rarely glandular-toothed, rarely ciliate, surfaces glabrous; petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, 2–4 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
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Drupes | gray-green, ovoid-oblong, compressed, 25–40 mm, velutinous; mesocarps leathery (splitting); stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, pitted. |
dark purple to nearly black, globose, 5–10[–25] mm, glabrous; hypanthium persistent; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Prunus dulcis |
Prunus serotina |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Mar; fruiting Jul–Sep. | |||||||||
Habitat | Roadsides, canyons, grasslands | |||||||||
Elevation | 20–500 m (100–1600 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; WA; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
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AL; AR; AZ; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; Central America; South America [Introduced in Europe]
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 4 (3 in the flora). Variety capuli (Cavanilles) Hatusima [subsp. capuli (Cavanilles) McVaugh] is known from Mexico (Chiapas, Jalisco, Distrito Federal, México, Puebla), Central America, and South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). It is distinguished from var. serotina by lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate leaves with decurrent bases (versus elliptic to obovate with obtuse to cuneate bases) and a long (to 2 cm), thin (1 mm) petiole; inflorescences tend to be subtended by 3 or 4 leaves [versus 2 (or 3), reduced in size], with a rachis relatively longer (greater than 15 cm), thicker, and flexuous compared to other varieties, and shorter pedicels (3–5 mm versus 5–10 mm, in var. serotina). The characters given in the key usually allow easy separation of Prunus serotina from P. virginiana; some specimens from Arizona and southern Utah are difficult to determine. In that area, it is not uncommon for the sepals of P. virginiana flowers to lack the glandular teeth that are common elsewhere and thus mimic those of P. serotina. Variety rufula has thicker leaves that are also much shinier on both surfaces than those of P. virginiana and shorter petioles (2–15 mm versus 4–27 mm). Compounding the confusion with chokecherry is a nomenclatural conundrum in which the epithet virginiana has been used for both chokecherry (the next species) and for black cherry (this species). The status of the two names Prunus serotina and P. virginiana was discussed by K. N. Gandhi et al. (2009), who proposed the conservation of both names. Of our native Prunus species only P. serotina grows large enough to produce commercial lumber, which is highly prized for its fine grain and rich, warm, reddish brown color. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 372. | FNA vol. 9, p. 363. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||||||
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Synonyms | Amygdalus dulcis, A. communis, P. amygdalus | |||||||||
Name authority | (Miller) D. A. Webb: Feddes Repert. 74: 24. (1967) | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 3: 285. (1784) | ||||||||
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