Prunus pensylvanica |
Prunus armeniaca |
|
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bird cherry, cerisier de pennsylvanie, fire cherry, petit merisier, pin cherry, pin or bird or fire cherry |
albaricoque, apricot, damasco, Siberian apricot |
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, often suckering, 20–160 dm, not thorny. | Trees, not suckering, 50–100 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, glabrous. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole (7–)9–20 mm, glabrous, glandular distally, glands 1–3; blade elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate, (2.5–)4.5–10(–14) × 1.5–5 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margins crenulate to crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute (western specimens), surfaces glabrous. |
deciduous; petiole (12–)20–45 mm, glabrous, glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–5; blade broadly ovate to suborbiculate, (3–)5–9 × (2–)4–8 cm, base usually obtuse to rounded, sometimes truncate or subcordate, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly short-acuminate, abaxial surface with tufts of hairs in vein axils, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | 2–5(–8)-flowered, umbellate fascicles or corymbs; central axes 0–8(–24) mm. |
solitary flowers. |
Pedicels | (8–)10–30 mm (subtended by minute bracts), glabrous. |
1–3 mm, hairy. |
Flowers | blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium obconic, 1.8–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals reflexed, oblong, 1.2–2.8 mm, margins entire, surfaces glabrous; petals white, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 4–7 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium tubular-campanulate, 4–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy externally; sepals reflexed, oblong-ovate, 4–6 mm, margins remotely glandular-toothed, surfaces sparsely hairy; petals white (pink in bud), broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, 8–12 mm; ovaries hairy. |
Drupes | bright red, ellipsoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid, not flattened. |
yellow to orange, often tinged with red, ellipsoid to globose, laterally compressed, 25–60 mm, velutinous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid to subglobose, strongly flattened, not pitted. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Prunus pensylvanica |
Prunus armeniaca |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Aug. | Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting May–Jul. |
Habitat | Forming thickets along streams and lakeshores, in clearings, roadsides, burned-over areas, disturbed sites, rocky hillsides, cliffs, open forests | Roadsides, abandoned plantings |
Elevation | 0–2800 m (0–9200 ft) | 20–1600 m (100–5200 ft) |
Distribution |
CO; CT; GA; IA; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SD; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM
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CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; MI; MO; MT; NM; OR; PA; UT; VA; WA; Asia (China) [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Throughout most of its range, Prunus pensylvanica appears distinct from P. emarginata. The leaves of P. pensylvanica are generally larger and lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate rather than oblanceolate to elliptic; the leaf apices are usually acuminate (sometimes acute) versus rounded to obtuse (rarely acute) in P. emarginata. Inflorescences of P. pensylvanica are corymbose to umbellate with central axes shorter than pedicels; in P. emarginata the inflorescences are corymbose to racemose with central axes longer than pedicels. Where their ranges overlap in British Columbia and western Montana, intermediates are found with the corymbose inflorescence of P. emarginata and leaves more comfortably accommodated within the variation of P. pensylvanica. Some of these specimens have been identified as P. corymbulosa, based on a type from Montana, here included within P. pensylvanica. Along the eastern slopes of the Rockies and throughout the northwestern Great Plains, Prunus pensylvanica is shrubby and has smaller leaves (less than 60 mm) than it does farther east. Compared to leaves of eastern plants, those of western specimens are also broader in proportion to their length (1.7–2.3:1 versus 2–4.3:1), have acute rather than acuminate apices, and tend to be more coarsely toothed. Although sometimes segregated as var. saximontana, or subsp. corymbulosa, when having a corymbose inflorescence, these plants fit within the variation in plant habit, leaf size, leaf shape, and margin serration seen throughout the broad range of P. pensylvanica. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Commercial production of apricots in North America is in the western United States, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley of California. There is little market for fresh apricots because of their extremely short shelf life; most fruits are preserved by drying. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 367. | FNA vol. 9, p. 375. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. corymbulosa, P. pensylvanica subsp. corymbulosa, P. pensylvanica var. saximontana | Armeniaca vulgaris |
Name authority | Linnaeus f.: Suppl. Pl., 252. (1782) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 474. (1753) |
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