Prunus mahaleb |
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Mahaleb cherry, Mahaleb or perfumed or St. Lucie cherry, perfumed cherry, St. Lucie cherry |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 30–150 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, densely puberulent. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 4–20 mm, glabrous or ± puberulent on adaxial surface, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–2, discoid; blade broadly ovate, oblong, or suborbiculate, 1.9–4.5 × 1.2–3.4 cm, base usually rounded to truncate, sometimes subcordate, margins crenate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly acuminate, apicula obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes midribs and veins hairy abaxially. |
Inflorescences | 4–10-flowered, corymbs; central axes 8–40 mm. |
Pedicels | 6–18 mm (subtended by leafy bracts), glabrous. |
Flowers | blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium conic-campanulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals reflexed, oblong, 1.3–2 mm, margins entire, surfaces glabrous; petals white, elliptic to obovate, 6–7 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | dark red to black, ovoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones ellipsoid to subglobose, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
Prunus mahaleb |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Roadsides, stream banks, limestone bluffs and quarries, lowland thickets and woods, fencerows, chaparral |
Elevation | 0–2300 m (0–7500 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CA; CT; DC; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; MI; MO; MT; NC; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; TN; UT; VA; WA; WV; BC; ON; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Prunus mahaleb was introduced to North America as a rootstock for commercial cherries and is now sometimes cultivated for its attractive and fragrant flowers. At one time, the aromatic wood was a favorite for tobacco pipes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 366. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) |
Web links |
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