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peach, pêcher, unknown

bird cherry, cerisier de pennsylvanie, fire cherry, petit merisier, pin cherry, pin or bird or fire cherry

Habit Trees, not suckering, 30–100 dm, not thorny. Shrubs or trees, often suckering, 20–160 dm, not thorny.
Twigs

with terminal end buds, glabrous.

with terminal end buds, glabrous.

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 (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.

Inflorescences

usually solitary flowers, sometimes 2-flowered fascicles.

2–5(–8)-flowered, umbellate fascicles or corymbs;

central axes 0–8(–24) mm.

Pedicels

0–3 mm, glabrous.

(8–)10–30 mm (subtended by minute bracts), 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 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.

Drupes

yellow to orange tinged with red, globose, 40–80 mm, velutinous (glabrous in nectarines);

mesocarps fleshy;

stones ellipsoid, strongly flattened, deeply pitted, furrowed.

bright red, ellipsoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous;

mesocarps fleshy;

stones ellipsoid, not flattened.

2n

= 16.

= 16.

Prunus persica

Prunus pensylvanica

Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting Jun–Aug. Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting Jul–Aug.
Habitat Roadsides, fencerows, abandoned farms, streamsides, canyons Forming thickets along streams and lakeshores, in clearings, roadsides, burned-over areas, disturbed sites, rocky hillsides, cliffs, open forests
Elevation 0–2300 m (0–7500 ft) 0–2800 m (0–9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

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.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 371. FNA vol. 9, p. 367.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus
Sibling taxa
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Synonyms Amygdalus persica, Persica vulgaris P. corymbulosa, P. pensylvanica subsp. corymbulosa, P. pensylvanica var. saximontana
Name authority (Linnaeus) Batsch: Beytr. Entw. Gewächsreich, 30. (1801) Linnaeus f.: Suppl. Pl., 252. (1782)
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