Prunus fremontii |
Prunus cerasifera |
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desert apricot |
cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, purple leaf plum |
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Habit | Shrubs, suckering unknown, much branched, 10–40 dm, thorny. | Trees, sometimes suckering, 40–80 dm, not or slightly thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 1–7 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade elliptic, ovate, or suborbiculate, 0.6–3 × 0.5–2 cm, base obtuse to rounded, subcordate, or truncate, margins obscurely crenulate, crenulate-serrulate, or serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually obtuse to rounded, sometimes emarginate, surfaces glabrous. |
deciduous; petiole 5–20 mm, glabrous except for a few hairs on adaxial surface, eglandular; blade ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 3–7 × 1.5–3.5 cm, base obtuse, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex obtuse to acute, abaxial surface hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | 1–3-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
Pedicels | 2–12 mm, glabrous. |
(4–)10–18 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–4 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading, semicircular to ovate, 1.2–4 mm, margins glandular-toothed, ciliate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy; petals usually white, sometimes pinkish rose, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 3–10 mm; ovaries hairy. |
blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–4 mm, glabrous externally; sepals reflexed to spreading, oblong-ovate, 2–4 mm, margins glandular-toothed to nearly entire, eciliate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy at bases; petals white (reddish pink in cultivars), elliptic to suborbiculate, 7–14 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | yellowish, ellipsoid-ovoid, 8–15 mm, densely puberulent; mesocarps leathery to dry (splitting); stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
purple-red to yellow, sometimes glaucous, ovoid, ellipsoid, or globose, 15–30 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid to ovoid, ± to strongly flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
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Prunus fremontii |
Prunus cerasifera |
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Phenology | Flowering Jan–Mar; fruiting Apr–Jun. | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Dry, sandy or rocky slopes, canyons, desert, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands | Roadsides, stream banks, canyons, chaparral |
Elevation | 200–1500 m (700–4900 ft) | 0–900 m (0–3000 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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CA; ID; MA; MD; NH; NY; OH; OR; PA; WA; BC; ON; se Europe [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Prunus fremontii is known only from the western edge of the Sonoran Desert. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The purple-leaved, pink-flowered cultivars of Prunus cerasifera are especially popular for ornamental use. The earliest purple form was introduced into European gardens about 1880 by M. Pissard, gardener to the Shah of Iran. Prunus cerasifera is widely used as a rootstock for commercial plums. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 373. | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. eriogyna | |
Name authority | S. Watson: in W. H. Brewer et al., Bot. California 2: 442. (1880) | Ehrhart: Gartenkalender 4: 192. (1784) |
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