Prunus persica
Prunus murrayana
peach, pêcher, unknown
Murray's plum, Murray's plume
with terminal end buds, glabrous.
with axillary end buds, hairy.
deciduous;
petiole 5–10(–15) mm, not winged, glabrous, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–4, discoid;
blade oblong to lanceolate, folded along midribs, often falcate, (5–)7–15 × 2–4.5 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins crenulate-serrulate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole 8–16 mm, usually hairy on both surfaces, sometimes only on adaxial surface, usually glandular distally, glands 1–4;
blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, usually folded along midribs, 3.5–7.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins singly to doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually acuminate, sometimes acute, abaxial surface glabrous or ± hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous.
usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles.
1–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
0–3 mm, glabrous.
4–14 mm, hairy.
blooming before leaf emergence;
hypanthium cupulate, 4–5 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals spreading, oblong-ovate, 3.5–5 mm, margins entire, ciliate, abaxial surface hairy (especially along margins), adaxial glabrous;
petals dark pink, obovate to suborbiculate, 10–17 mm;
ovaries hairy.
blooming at leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 2–2.5 mm, hairy externally;
sepals erect to reflexed, ovate, 1.5–2 mm, margins glandular-toothed, abaxial surface glabrate or hairy, adaxial densely hairy at bases;
petals white, obovate, 4–8 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
yellow to orange tinged with red, globose, 40–80 mm, velutinous (glabrous in nectarines);
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, deeply pitted, furrowed.
red with white dots, slightly to quite glaucous, globose, 10–18 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, ± flattened.
= 16.
Prunus persica
Prunus murrayana
Peaches are cultivated throughout much of North America. Commercial production is diffuse, occurring in over half of the lower 48 states as well as in southern British Columbia and southern Ontario. Freestone peaches for fresh eating come largely from California, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina; most clingstones are used for canning and are grown in California. Nectarines are a variety with hairless skin. The fruits are popular on picnics, and peach saplings are commonly encountered anywhere pits are discarded. Escapes are usually short-lived; some escapes form naturalized populations. Double-flowered cultivars are used ornamentally.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Prunus murrayana was long known only from trans-Pecos Texas. M. F. Enquist (1997) expanded the range by recognizing the similarity of these plants to plants from the Edwards Plateau, which he described as a hairy variety of P. rivularis and placed P. murrayana in synonymy. Sequence analysis of DNA from some of the same hairy plants collected by Enquist indicate that these plants are distinct from P. rivularis and are most similar to P. hortulana (J. R. Rohrer et al. 2008). Prunus murrayana is a smaller plant than P. hortulana, with smaller leaves and fruits. Also, P. murrayana suckers to form shrubby thickets; P. hortulana generally forms single trees. The twigs, pedicels, and hypanthium exteriors are hairy in P. murrayana and glabrous in P. hortulana.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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