Prunus padus |
Prunus ilicifolia |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
bird cherry, European bird cherry, hackberry |
Catalina cherry, evergreen cherry, holly leaf cherry, islay |
|||||
Habit | Trees, not suckering, 50–150 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 10–150 dm, not thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous or puberulent. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
||||
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 8–17 mm, glabrous or puberulent on adaxial surface or both surfaces, glandular distally, glands 1–4; blade elliptic to obovate, 5–10(–13) × 2.5–4.5(–7) cm, base obtuse to rounded or subcordate, margins serrate, teeth ascending to spreading, sharp, eglandular, apex acuminate to abruptly so, lateral veins 10–18 per side, raised abaxially, surfaces glabrous or abaxial hairy in vein axils or along midribs. |
persistent; petiole 3–25 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade oblong-ovate to ovate-lanceolate or ovate to suborbiculate, 1.6–12 × 1.2–5(–7) cm, base usually broadly rounded to subcordate, sometimes obtuse, margins spinose-dentate to spinose-serrulate or entire, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, callus-tipped, sometimes glandular at leaf base, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial eglandular, if glands present, restricted to margins. |
||||
Inflorescences | 15–50-flowered, racemes; central axes 45–150 mm, leafy at bases. |
15–40-flowered, racemes; central axes 30–80 mm, leafless at bases. |
||||
Pedicels | 3–17 mm, glabrous. |
1–5 mm, glabrous. |
||||
Flowers | blooming after leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous externally; sepals broadly spreading to reflexed, oblong-ovate, 1.2–2 mm (lengths greater than widths), margins glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous; petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, (5–)6–9 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect to spreading, triangular, 0.7–1.2 mm, margins entire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely with scattered hairs; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1–3 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
||||
Drupes | black, globose, 6–8 mm, glabrous; hypanthium deciduous, leaving discs at bases of drupes; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened, rugulose. |
dark red to purple or blue-black, obovoid or ellipsoid to globose, 12–25 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened. |
||||
2n | = 32. |
|||||
Prunus padus |
Prunus ilicifolia |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Jul–Aug. | |||||
Habitat | Disturbed sites | |||||
Elevation | 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AK; DE; IL; MT; NJ; NY; PA; UT; WA; NB; ON; Eurasia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
|
CA; nw Mexico
|
||||
Discussion | Prunus padus is cultivated in North America as an ornamental prized for its long, showy racemes of white flowers and its cold hardiness. Its value in the upper Midwest is often compromised by fungal infection causing black knot disease. Prunus padus is difficult to distinguish from P. virginiana var. demissa, at least from herbarium material. Induments of hypanthium interior have been widely used in keys to separate the two: hairy in P. padus versus glabrous in P. virginiana. As noted by E. G. Voss (1972–1996, vol. 2), many of the specimens of P. virginiana have a pubescent hypanthium, especially basally. This is true throughout the range of P. virginiana, and also for some specimens of P. serotina. The hypanthia of P. padus are more hairy than those of P. virginiana. The petals of P. padus are longer than those of eastern chokecherry (P. virginiana var. virginiana), making it possible to distinguish flowering specimens from east of the Rocky Mountains. The petals are only slightly longer, on average, than those of P. virginiana var. demissa. Petals of P. padus are also a bit narrower and more elliptic. Shape of sepals may prove useful: 1.2–2 mm with lengths greater than widths in P. padus versus 0.7–1.4 mm with lengths equal to widths in P. virginiana var. demissa. In fruit, the difference between rugulose stones of P. padus and smooth stones of P. virginiana is subtle, perhaps too subtle for those unfamiliar with the range in variation of pit surfaces among these taxa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 366. | FNA vol. 9, p. 362. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Cerasus ilicifolia | |||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 473. (1753) | (Nuttall ex Hooker & Arnott) D. Dietrich: Syn. Pl. 3: 43. (1842) | ||||
Web links |