Prunus hortulana |
Prunus spinosa |
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Hortulan or wild goose plum, Hortulan plum |
blackthorn, blackthorn plum, sloe, sloe cherry |
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Habit | Trees, rarely suckering, 40–100 dm, moderately thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, 10–40 dm, thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, hairy. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 6–20 mm, hairy on adaxial surface, usually glandular distally, glands 1–5; blade narrowly elliptic, lanceolate, oblanceolate, or oblong-obovate, (5–)7–11(–13) × (2–)3–5.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, glands inconspicuous, blackish, apex long-acuminate, abaxial surface ± hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous or with hairs along midribs. |
deciduous; petiole 4–7 mm, hairy, eglandular; blade elliptic to obovate, 1.5–4 × 1–2.2 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins crenulate-serrulate, teeth blunt, often glandular, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface hairy (especially along midribs and veins), adaxial glabrate. |
Inflorescences | 2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
Pedicels | 8–20 mm, glabrous. |
0.5–5(–8) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy. |
Flowers | blooming before or at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect to reflexed, ovate, 1.5–3 mm, margins glandular-toothed, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely hairy, adaxial densely hairy at bases; petals white, obovate, 4–9 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 1.5–2.5 mm, glabrous externally; sepals spreading, oblong, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous or adaxially hairy at bases; petals white, elliptic, 4–8 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | red to yellowish with white dots, not or only slightly glaucous, globose, 20–30(–40) mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid-ellipsoid, ± flattened. |
bluish black, globose, 10–15 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
= 32. |
Prunus hortulana |
Prunus spinosa |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Aug–Sep. | Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Aug–Sep. |
Habitat | Roadside thickets, flood plains, open woodlands | Roadsides |
Elevation | 50–500 m (200–1600 ft) | 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MI; MO; NE; OH; OK; TN; VA; WV
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CT; ID; MA; ME; MI; NY; OR; WA; BC; NS; ON; Eurasia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | As past flora writers (C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969; E. G. Voss 1972–1996) have noted, the distinctions between Prunus spinosa and P. domestica are not clear. Some researchers consider the hexaploid P. domestica to have been derived from the tetraploid P. spinosa, often in a scenario involving hybridization with P. cerasifera. It should not be surprising that some of the characters used in keys to separate these three taxa (spininess, indument, leaf size, pedicel length, numbers of flowers per bud) are subject to variation within each species and overlap among the species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 382. | FNA vol. 9, p. 376. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. hortulana var. mineri | |
Name authority | L. H. Bailey: Gard. & Forest 5: 90. (1892) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 475. (1753) |
Web links |
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