Prunus fasciculata |
Prunus domestica |
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desert almond, desert peach, wild almond |
common garden plum, cultivated plum, European plum, prunier damas |
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Habit | Shrubs, suckering, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 20–60(–100) dm, not or slightly thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous or canescent. |
with axillary end buds, usually hairy, sometimes glabrous. |
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Leaves | deciduous; sessile; blade oblanceolate to linear, 0.5–2 × 0.1–0.2(–0.4) cm, base long-attenuate, margins nearly entire or obscurely and remotely serrulate in distal 1/3, teeth blunt to sharp, sometimes glandular, apex rounded to acute, surfaces puberulent or glabrous or low-papillate (var. punctata). |
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. |
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Inflorescences | solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
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Pedicels | 0–4 mm, glabrous. |
(2–)10–20 mm, glabrous or hairy. |
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Flowers | unisexual, plants dioecious, blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading, triangular, 0.7–1 mm, margins entire, surfaces glabrous; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1.4–2.5(–4) mm; ovaries hairy. |
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. |
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Drupes | gray to red-brown, ovoid, ± compressed, 7–15 mm, densely puberulent; hypanthium tardily deciduous; mesocarps leathery to dry; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
blue-black (green, yellow, or red in cultivars), ellipsoid to globose, 15–35 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid to ellipsoid, strongly flattened. |
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2n | = 48. |
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Prunus fasciculata |
Prunus domestica |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Aug–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Roadsides, fencerows, abandoned homesites | |||||
Elevation | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; UT; nw Mexico
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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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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 370. | FNA vol. 9, p. 376. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Emplectocladus fasciculatus | P. domestica subsp. insititia, P. domestica var. insititia, P. insititia | ||||
Name authority | (Torrey) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 70. (1874) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 475. (1753) | ||||
Web links |
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