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desert almond, desert peach, wild almond

Higan cherry, winter-flowering cherry

Habit Shrubs, suckering, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny. Trees, not suckering, 30–100 dm, not thorny.
Twigs

with axillary end buds, glabrous or canescent.

with terminal end buds, hairy.

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 5–10 mm, hairy, glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades;

blade elliptic, oblong-ovate, or ovate, 3–8 × 1.5–4 cm, base obtuse, margins doubly serrate, teeth sharp, glandular, apex acuminate, abaxial surface hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous or with appressed hairs along midrib.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.

2–5-flowered, umbellate fascicles.

Pedicels

0–4 mm, glabrous.

8–22 mm, hairy.

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 leaf emergence;

hypanthium tubular to tubular-urceolate, 4–7 mm, hairy externally;

sepals erect to spreading, oblong-ovate, 2–5 mm, margins toothed, sometimes glandular, abaxial surface sparsely hairy, adaxial glabrous;

petals pale pink, oblong to obovate, 8–12 mm;

ovaries glabrous.

Drupes

gray to red-brown, ovoid, ± compressed, 7–15 mm, densely puberulent;

hypanthium tardily deciduous;

mesocarps leathery to dry;

stones ovoid, ± flattened.

black, subglobose, 8 mm, glabrous;

mesocarps fleshy;

stones ellipsoid, not flattened.

2n

= 24 (Japan).

Prunus fasciculata

Prunus subhirtella

Phenology Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Jun.
Habitat Disturbed sites, abandoned plantings
Elevation 0–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
DC; OH; VA; e Asia (Japan) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Leaf blades sparsely to densely puberulent, not papillate.
var. fasciculata
1. Leaf blades glabrous, sometimes papillate.
var. punctata
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 370. FNA vol. 9, p. 369.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus
Sibling taxa
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Subordinate taxa
P. fasciculata var. fasciculata, P. fasciculata var. punctata
Synonyms Emplectocladus fasciculatus
Name authority (Torrey) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 70. (1874) Miquel: Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 2: 91. (1865)
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