Prunus maritima |
Prunus andersonii |
|
---|---|---|
beach plum |
desert almond, desert peach |
|
Habit | Shrubs, suckering, 10–25 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering unknown, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny. |
Twigs | with axillary end buds, densely hairy to glabrate. |
with axillary end buds, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 3–11 mm, usually densely hairy, rarely hairy only on adaxial surface, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–2, discoid; blade elliptic, broadly elliptic, or obovate (orbiculate in gravesii clone), 3.5–7 × 2–4 cm, base cuneate to obtuse (rounded in gravesii clone), margins finely, usually singly, rarely doubly, serrulate, teeth sharp, usually eglandular, rarely glandular, apex acute to obtuse (rounded in gravesii clone), abaxial surface usually hairy, sometimes only on veins or glabrescent, adaxial rugose, glabrous. |
deciduous; ± sessile; blade narrowly elliptic, obovate, oblanceolate, or spatulate, 1–3 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base long-attenuate, margins usually serrulate, sometimes obscurely, teeth blunt, inconspicuously glandular, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes puberulent. |
Inflorescences | 2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
Pedicels | 5–15 mm, hairy. |
(1–)4–12 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2.5–3.5 mm, hairy externally; sepals erect to spreading, ovate, 1.5–3.5 mm, margins entire, sometimes 2-fid at apices, ciliate, surfaces hairy; petals white, oblong-obovate, 3–8 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 3–4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent externally; sepals spreading, triangular, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins sparsely glandular-toothed, ciliate, surfaces glabrate; petals usually dark pink, sometimes nearly white, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, (5–)8–11 mm; ovaries hairy. |
Drupes | red, yellow, dark blue, or purplish black, glaucous, globose, 11–18 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid, slightly flattened. |
greenish yellow to red-orange, globose to asymmetrically obovoid, compressed, 10–18 mm, base cuneate-stipitate, apex mucronate, densely puberulent; hypanthium persistent; mesocarps leathery to dry (often splitting); stones ellipsoid to subglobose, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Prunus maritima |
Prunus andersonii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Aug–Oct. | Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Sand dunes, beaches, sandy fields, roadsides, coastal barrens | Dry rocky slopes, washes, canyons, sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands |
Elevation | 0–30 m (0–100 ft) | 900–2600 m (3000–8500 ft) |
Distribution |
CT; DE; MA; MD; ME; NH; NJ; NY; PA; RI; VA
|
CA; NV
|
Discussion | Prunus gravesii has been known from only a single locality since its description in 1897, and there may never have been more than a single, multistemmed individual. G. J. Anderson (1980) concluded that it is a mutant derivative of P. maritima. In the study by Anderson, it differed with statistical significance from other specimens of P. maritima for only 4 of 38 morphological features measured, and even for those four the range in values between the two taxa overlapped. Their leaf flavonoid chromatograms were identical. From a conservation standpoint it is of value to designate the orbiculate-leaved gravesii clone as a distinct taxonomic variety, for which the name P. maritima var. gravesii (Small) G. J. Anderson is available. Once listed by the state of Connecticut as endangered, it is now believed to be extinct in the wild. Throughout much of its original range P. maritima is threatened by oceanside development. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Prunus andersonii inhabits the Great Basin Desert region of central and western Nevada, ranging westward into California to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Modoc County south to Inyo County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 380. | FNA vol. 9, p. 373. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. gravesii, P. maritima var. gravesii | |
Name authority | Marshall: Arbust. Amer., 112. (1785) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 337. (1868) |
Web links |