Prunus subcordata |
Prunus fasciculata |
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Klamath plum, Oregon plum, Pacific plum, Sierra or Klamath or Pacific plume, Sierra plum, western plum |
desert almond, desert peach, wild almond |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, often suckering, 10–30(–60) dm, sometimes thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with axillary end buds, glabrous or hairy. |
with axillary end buds, glabrous or canescent. |
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Leaves | 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; sessile; blade oblanceolate to linear, 0.5–2 × 0.1–0.2(–0.4) cm, base long-attenuate, margins nearly entire or obscurely and remotely serrulate in distal 1/3, teeth blunt to sharp, sometimes glandular, apex rounded to acute, surfaces puberulent or glabrous or low-papillate (var. punctata). |
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Inflorescences | 2–5-flowered, umbellate fascicles. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
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Pedicels | 5–15 mm, glabrous or hairy. |
0–4 mm, glabrous. |
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Flowers | 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. |
unisexual, plants dioecious, blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading, triangular, 0.7–1 mm, margins entire, surfaces glabrous; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1.4–2.5(–4) mm; ovaries hairy. |
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Drupes | usually red to reddish purple, sometimes yellow, globose to ellipsoid, 15–25 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent; mesocarps fleshy; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
gray to red-brown, ovoid, ± compressed, 7–15 mm, densely puberulent; hypanthium tardily deciduous; mesocarps leathery to dry; stones ovoid, ± flattened. |
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Prunus subcordata |
Prunus fasciculata |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Aug–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Stream banks, dry rocky slopes, chaparral, pine-oak and juniper-oak woodlands | |||||
Elevation | 100–1900 m (300–6200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA; OR
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AZ; CA; NV; UT; nw Mexico
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 377. | FNA vol. 9, p. 370. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | P. subcordata var. kelloggii, P. subcordata var. oregana, P. subcordata var. rubicunda | Emplectocladus fasciculatus | ||||
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 308. (1849) | (Torrey) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 70. (1874) | ||||
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