Prunus virginiana |
Prunus glandulosa |
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bitter-berry, choke cherry, common chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry |
dwarf flowering almond, flowering almond |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, often suckering, 10–60(–100) dm, not thorny. | Shrubs, suckering, 5–20 dm, not thorny. | ||||
Twigs | with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy. |
with terminal end buds, glabrous. |
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Leaves | deciduous; petiole 4–22(–27) mm, usually glabrous, sometimes hairy, glandular distally, glands 2, discoid; blade obovate or elliptic to ovate or oblanceolate, 2.5–9(–11) × 1.2–5(–6.6), base cuneate to rounded or subcordate, margins serrulate to serrate, teeth ascending to spreading, usually sharp, eglandular, sometimes callus-tipped, obscurely glandular, lateral veins 6–13 per side, raised abaxially, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous or hairy (especially along midribs), adaxial glabrous. |
deciduous; petiole 1–6 mm, hairy on adaxial surface, eglandular; blade narrowly elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 2.5–9 × 0.9–2.5 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins crenulate-serrulate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous or slightly hairy along midribs and veins, adaxial glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | 18–64-flowered, racemes; central axes (18–)40–110(–130) mm, leafy at bases. |
solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. |
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Pedicels | 2–8(–16) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy. |
6–15 mm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
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Flowers | blooming after leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect-spreading to reflexed, semicircular, 0.7–1.4 mm, margins erose, usually glandular-toothed, sometimes nearly eglandular, surfaces glabrous; petals white, obovate to suborbiculate, 2–5(–7) mm; ovaries glabrous. |
blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent externally; sepals spreading to reflexed, ovate, 2.5–5 mm, margins glandular-toothed, ± ciliate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely puberulent; petals 25+, white or pink, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 8–11 mm; ovaries glabrous. |
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Drupes | red, purple, dark purple, or black, globose, 6–14 mm, glabrous; hypanthium deciduous, leaving discs at bases of drupes; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, not flattened, ± smooth. |
reddish, subglobose, 10–15 mm, glabrous; mesocarps fleshy; stones subglobose, not flattened. |
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Prunus virginiana |
Prunus glandulosa |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | |||||
Habitat | Roadsides, fencerows, abandoned plantings | |||||
Elevation | 0–400 m (0–1300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; Mexico
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IA; MI; NC; ON; e Asia (China, Japan) [Introduced in North America] |
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Because of variation in the degree of hairiness on branches and leaves, thickness of leaves, leaf shape, sizes of racemes and flowers, and colors of fruits, Prunus virginiana has been split into forms, varieties, and segregate species. When viewed on a continental scale, most of the key characteristics used to separate these taxa intergrade enough so as to be useless. The most useful distinction is between chokecherries found east of the Rocky Mountains and those found from the mountains westward. They differ in leaf shape and raceme size; the variation is imperfectly correlated. The eastern plants generally have their larger leaves obovate with lengths less than two times widths, racemes typically less than 7 cm, and petals to 4 mm. Plants of the Rockies and west have longer racemes and larger petals, and generally their larger leaves are elliptic to oblanceolate leaves with lengths two or more times widths. Distinctions between the eastern and western varieties are least obvious from Montana to eastern Washington north into British Columbia, where the varietal ranges overlap. Plants of the High Plains show intergradation between those of the Rockies and those of the East. The taxonomic solution provided here is a single species of chokecherry in North America with an eastern and a western variety that overlap in range along a line from northeastern New Mexico to southwestern British Columbia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Double-flowered cultivars of Prunus glandulosa, which lack stamens and carpels, are commonly planted as foundation shrubs and in borders. Although the plants are attractive in bloom, some horticulturalists consider them of little ornamental value otherwise. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 365. | FNA vol. 9, p. 377. | ||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 473. (1753) | Thunberg: in J. A. Murray, Syst. Veg. ed. 14, 463. (1784) | ||||
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