Prunus subcordata
Prunus avium
Klamath plum, Oregon plum, Pacific plum, Sierra or Klamath or Pacific plume, Sierra plum, western plum
cerisier des oiseaux, sweet cherry, wild cherry
with axillary end buds, glabrous or hairy.
with terminal end buds, glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole 4–18 mm, glabrous or hairy, usually glandular distally, glands 1–3, discoid;
blade elliptic, oblong-ovate, or suborbiculate, 2–5(–6.5) × 1.3–3.5(–4.5) cm, base rounded or subcordate, margins singly to doubly serrulate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex usually obtuse to rounded, rarely acute, abaxial surface glabrous or hairy, adaxial glabrous or appressed-hairy.
deciduous;
petiole (14–)20–40 mm, nearly glabrous or sparsely hairy adaxially, glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–3, discoid;
blade oblong, elliptic-obovate, or obovate, (4–)7–14 × (2.5–)4–8.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly short-acuminate, abaxial surface moderately hairy (especially midribs and veins), adaxial glabrous.
2–5-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
1–3-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
5–15 mm, glabrous or hairy.
(14–)25–52 mm, glabrous.
blooming at leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 2–3.5 mm, glabrous or hairy externally;
sepals broadly spreading to reflexed, obovate, 2.2–4(–5) mm, margins glandular-toothed, sometimes obscurely so, sometimes ciliate, surfaces glabrous or hairy;
petals white, oblong-obovate, 5–10 mm;
ovaries usually glabrous, rarely hairy.
blooming at leaf emergence;
hypanthium tubular-urceolate, 5–7 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals reflexed, oblong, 4–6 mm, margins entire or sparsely and irregularly toothed, surfaces glabrous;
petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, 12–15 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
usually red to reddish purple, sometimes yellow, globose to ellipsoid, 15–25 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, ± flattened.
dark red to purplish black, globose, 13–30 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones subglobose, not flattened.
= 16.
Prunus subcordata
Prunus avium
Prunus subcordata shows variation in color, size, indument, and palatability of fruits, which has been the basis for recognition of taxonomic segregates. Variety kelloggii was described as a larger plant with less hairy foliage than in typical P. subcordata, and its fruits are yellow, larger, sweeter, and more pulpy. Variety rubicunda is a smaller shrub with bright red, bitter fruits. Most noteworthy is var. oregana with densely hairy ovaries and puberulent fruits, recorded only from the sparsely inhabited border region between northeastern California and adjacent Oregon. Specimens in herbaria are few and recent collections are lacking. The assignment of P. texana with hairy fruits to the plums (J. Shaw and R. L. Small 2005) makes this variant all the more interesting. Field study and collection followed by morphologic, genetic, and molecular study are needed to clarify its systematic position and significance.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Cultivars of Prunus avium are grown in North America both for their attractive flowers, especially where the Japanese ornamental cherries are not hardy, and for their sweet fruits. Most of the sweet cherry crop in North America is grown in the Pacific Coast states and in Michigan and Ontario. Most varieties are self-incompatible and require pollen from a variety in a different incompatibility group in order to set fruits.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
CalFlora, CalPhotos, 
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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