Prunus fasciculata
Prunus serotina
desert almond, desert peach, wild almond
black cherry, black chokecherry, cerisier tardif ou d'automne, merisier, rum cherry
with axillary end buds, glabrous or canescent.
with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy.
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 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.
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.
18–55(–90)-flowered, racemes;
central axes (25–)35–160 mm, leafy at bases.
0–4 mm, glabrous.
1–10 mm, glabrous or hairy.
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 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.
gray to red-brown, ovoid, ± compressed, 7–15 mm, densely puberulent;
hypanthium tardily deciduous;
mesocarps leathery to dry;
stones ovoid, ± flattened.
dark purple to nearly black, globose, 5–10[–25] mm, glabrous;
hypanthium persistent;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones subglobose, not flattened.
Prunus fasciculata
Prunus serotina
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(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.)
1. Leaf blades sparsely to densely puberulent, not papillate. | var. fasciculata |
1. Leaf blades glabrous, sometimes papillate. | var. punctata |
1. Leaf blades elliptic to obovate, abaxial surfaces sparsely hairy, apices usually obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, sometimes abruptly acute or short-acuminate. | var. alabamensis |
1. Leaf blades usually elliptic, lanceolate, or oblong, rarely obovate or ovate, abaxial surfaces glabrous or midribs hairy, apices acute to acuminate | → 2 |
2. Leaf blades 4–13.5 cm, membranous or slightly leathery; petioles (7–)10–23(–30) mm; e North America. | var. serotina |
2. Leaf blades 2–5.2(–7.4) cm, leathery; petioles (2–)4–10(–15) mm; Arizona to w Texas. | var. rufula |
CA- Local floras:
BC, 
OR - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
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USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
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