Prunus persica |
Prunus padus |
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peach, pêcher, unknown |
bird cherry, European bird cherry, hackberry |
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Habit | Trees, not suckering, 30–100 dm, not thorny. | Trees, not suckering, 50–150 dm, not thorny. |
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous or puberulent. |
Leaves | 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 8–17 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. |
Inflorescences | usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles. |
15–50-flowered, racemes; central axes 45–150 mm, leafy at bases. |
Pedicels | 0–3 mm, glabrous. |
3–17 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | 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 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. |
Drupes | yellow to orange tinged with red, globose, 40–80 mm, velutinous (glabrous in nectarines); mesocarps fleshy; stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, deeply pitted, furrowed. |
black, globose, 6–8 mm, glabrous; hypanthium deciduous, leaving discs at bases of drupes; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened, rugulose. |
2n | = 16. |
= 32. |
Prunus persica |
Prunus padus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. | Flowering Apr–May; fruiting Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Roadsides, fencerows, abandoned farms, streamsides, canyons | Disturbed sites |
Elevation | 0–2300 m (0–7500 ft) | 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; WI; WV; NS; ON; e Asia [Introduced in North America]
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AK; DE; IL; MT; NJ; NY; PA; UT; WA; NB; ON; Eurasia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | 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 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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 371. | FNA vol. 9, p. 366. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Amygdalus persica, Persica vulgaris | |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Batsch: Beytr. Entw. Gewächsreich, 30. (1801) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 473. (1753) |
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