Prunus umbellata
Prunus serotina
Alleghany plum, flatwood plum, hog or flatwoods or Allegheny plum, hog plum, sloe
black cherry, black chokecherry, cerisier tardif ou d'automne, merisier, rum cherry
with axillary end buds, usually glabrous, sometimes hairy.
with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy.
deciduous;
petiole 3–14 mm, hairy, usually eglandular, sometimes hairy only adaxially, glandular distally, glands 1–3, discoid;
blade usually elliptic to broadly elliptic, sometimes oblanceolate to obovate, 3.5–8 × 1.5–4 cm, base usually cuneate to obtuse, rarely rounded, margins finely, usually singly serrulate, sometimes doubly serrate, teeth sharp, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular, glands blackish, spheric, apex usually acute, sometimes short-acuminate, abaxial surface hairy to glabrate, adaxial glabrous.
deciduous;
petiole 2–23(–30) mm, glabrous or sparsely to densely hairy, usually glandular distally or at petiole-blade junction, glands 1–6;
blade usually narrowly elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or obovate, sometimes lanceolate, rarely ovate, 2–13.5 × 1.1–6.5 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margins crenulate-serrulate to serrate, teeth incurved or appressed, sharp or blunt, glandular or callus-tipped, apex usually acute to acuminate, sometimes obtuse, rounded to emarginate in var. alabamensis, lateral veins 15–30 per side, flush abaxially, abaxial surface usually densely hairy along midribs proximally, sometimes glabrous or sparsely hairy, adaxial glabrous.
2–4(–6)-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
18–55(–90)-flowered, racemes;
central axes (25–)35–160 mm, leafy at bases.
5–22 mm, usually glabrous, sometimes hairy.
1–10 mm, glabrous or hairy.
blooming before or at leaf emergence;
hypanthium tubular (often tubular-urceolate when dried), 2–4 mm, glabrous or hairy externally;
sepals erect-spreading, ovate-oblong, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins usually entire, sometimes 2-fid at apices, ciliate, abaxial surface hairy or glabrous, adaxial hairy;
petals white, sometimes turning pink, obovate to suborbiculate, 3–8 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
blooming after leaf emergence;
hypanthium cupulate, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals erect-spreading to reflexed, semicircular, 0.5–1.5 mm, margins usually entire, rarely glandular-toothed, rarely ciliate, surfaces glabrous;
petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, 2–4 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
red, yellow, dark blue, or nearly black, glaucous, globose, 10–15 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid, slightly to ± flattened.
dark purple to nearly black, globose, 5–10[–25] mm, glabrous;
hypanthium persistent;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones subglobose, not flattened.
Prunus umbellata
Prunus serotina
Traditionally treated as distinct species, Prunus alleghaniensis from the Appalachians and P. umbellata from southeastern United States are very similar; their ranges overlap in North Carolina and Tennessee. Similar plants disjunct in Michigan have been called P. alleghaniensis var. davisii. Morphological characters (petiole length, shape of blade along with its base and apex, degree of suckering) that have been used to separate these taxa vary as much within each taxon as among them. Since they can be separated only by geographic distribution, they are combined in this treatment.
Some specimens from Connecticut with hairy twigs, petioles, pedicels, and hypanthia were determined as Prunus alleghaniensis by Eames a century ago and do seem to fit within P. umbellata. Other Connecticut specimens determined as P. alleghaniensis (for example, Eames 121, MICH) with scattered glandular teeth on the sepals seem better placed in P. americana. The sole specimen known from Massachusetts (Pease 10,005, NEBC) has singly serrate leaves evenly tapered at both ends as in P. umbellata, but larger petals and reflexed sepals like those of P. americana.
In the southeastern United States, hairy forms have been called Prunus injucunda or P. mitis; the degree of indument on the twigs, petioles, leaf surfaces, pedicels, hypanthia, and sepals is subject to much trivial variation throughout the southeast, the Appalachians, and in Michigan.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 4 (3 in the flora).
Variety capuli (Cavanilles) Hatusima [subsp. capuli (Cavanilles) McVaugh] is known from Mexico (Chiapas, Jalisco, Distrito Federal, México, Puebla), Central America, and South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). It is distinguished from var. serotina by lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate leaves with decurrent bases (versus elliptic to obovate with obtuse to cuneate bases) and a long (to 2 cm), thin (1 mm) petiole; inflorescences tend to be subtended by 3 or 4 leaves [versus 2 (or 3), reduced in size], with a rachis relatively longer (greater than 15 cm), thicker, and flexuous compared to other varieties, and shorter pedicels (3–5 mm versus 5–10 mm, in var. serotina).
The characters given in the key usually allow easy separation of Prunus serotina from P. virginiana; some specimens from Arizona and southern Utah are difficult to determine. In that area, it is not uncommon for the sepals of P. virginiana flowers to lack the glandular teeth that are common elsewhere and thus mimic those of P. serotina. Variety rufula has thicker leaves that are also much shinier on both surfaces than those of P. virginiana and shorter petioles (2–15 mm versus 4–27 mm).
Compounding the confusion with chokecherry is a nomenclatural conundrum in which the epithet virginiana has been used for both chokecherry (the next species) and for black cherry (this species). The status of the two names Prunus serotina and P. virginiana was discussed by K. N. Gandhi et al. (2009), who proposed the conservation of both names.
Of our native Prunus species only P. serotina grows large enough to produce commercial lumber, which is highly prized for its fine grain and rich, warm, reddish brown color.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blades elliptic to obovate, abaxial surfaces sparsely hairy, apices usually obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, sometimes abruptly acute or short-acuminate. | var. alabamensis |
1. Leaf blades usually elliptic, lanceolate, or oblong, rarely obovate or ovate, abaxial surfaces glabrous or midribs hairy, apices acute to acuminate | → 2 |
2. Leaf blades 4–13.5 cm, membranous or slightly leathery; petioles (7–)10–23(–30) mm; e North America. | var. serotina |
2. Leaf blades 2–5.2(–7.4) cm, leathery; petioles (2–)4–10(–15) mm; Arizona to w Texas. | var. rufula |
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