Prunus pensylvanica |
Prunus geniculata |
|
---|---|---|
bird cherry, cerisier de pennsylvanie, fire cherry, petit merisier, pin cherry, pin or bird or fire cherry |
scrub plum |
|
Habit | Shrubs or trees, often suckering, 20–160 dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, sometimes suckering, much branched, 5–10(–20) dm, thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with axillary end buds, hairy. |
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 3–6 mm, hairy on adaxial surface, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–2, discoid; blade elliptic, 0.8–2.5 × 0.4–1.3 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins crenulate-serrulate in distal 1/2, nearly entire on smaller leaves, teeth blunt, glandular, apex obtuse to rounded, mucronate, surfaces 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. |
0–3 mm, glabrous. |
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. |
usually bisexual with some staminate flowers on same plant, blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect to spreading, ovate, 1–1.5 mm, margins entire, ciliate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy; petals white, elliptic, 2 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
Drupes | bright red, ellipsoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid, not flattened. |
reddish, ovoid, 12–25 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Prunus pensylvanica |
Prunus geniculata |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Aug. | Flowering Jan–Feb; fruiting Mar–May. |
Habitat | Forming thickets along streams and lakeshores, in clearings, roadsides, burned-over areas, disturbed sites, rocky hillsides, cliffs, open forests | Longleaf pine-turkey oak sandhills, pine-evergreen oak scrub |
Elevation | 0–2800 m (0–9200 ft) | 10–50 m (0–200 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
|
FL |
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.) |
Of conservation concern. Prunus geniculata is known only from the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida. Much of its original habitat has been lost to residential, recreational, and agricultural development; it received federal listing as an endangered species in 1987. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 367. | FNA vol. 9, p. 378. |
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 | |
Name authority | Linnaeus f.: Suppl. Pl., 252. (1782) | R. M. Harper: Torreya 11: 67. (1911) |
Web links |