Prunus pensylvanica
Prunus havardii
bird cherry, cerisier de pennsylvanie, fire cherry, petit merisier, pin cherry, pin or bird or fire cherry
Havard's almond, Havard's plum
with terminal end buds, glabrous.
with axillary end buds, puberulent.
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 1–3 mm, glabrous or puberulent, eglandular;
blade rhombic, obovate, or fan-shaped, 0.5–1.6(–2) × 0.2–0.8(–1.4) cm, base broadly obtuse or rounded to nearly truncate, margins serrate or dentate in distal 1/2, teeth blunt to sharp, some callus-tipped, rarely glandular, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces puberulent.
2–5(–8)-flowered, umbellate fascicles or corymbs;
central axes 0–8(–24) mm.
solitary flowers.
(8–)10–30 mm (subtended by minute bracts), glabrous.
0 mm.
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.
unisexual, plants dioecious, blooming at leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals spreading to reflexed, triangular, 0.7–1 mm, margins entire, sparsely ciliate, surfaces glabrate;
petals white, obovate, 2 mm;
ovaries hairy.
bright red, ellipsoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ellipsoid, not flattened.
reddish brown, ovoid, 8–11 mm, puberulent;
hypanthium tardily deciduous;
mesocarps leathery to dry (splitting);
stones ovoid, slightly flattened.
= 16.
Prunus pensylvanica
Prunus havardii
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.)
Prunus havardii is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert of trans-Pecos Texas and across the Rio Grande in Mexico, with most collections from the Big Bend area.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
