Prunus virginiana
Prunus gracilis
bitter-berry, choke cherry, common chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry
Oklahoma plum, Oklahoma plume
with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy.
with axillary end buds, densely hairy.
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 3–8 mm, densely hairy, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–3, discoid;
blade usually ovate or elliptic, rarely obovate, 2–5(–7) × 1–2.5(–3.6) cm, base obtuse to cuneate, margins finely, singly or doubly serrulate, teeth sharp, usually eglandular, sometimes glandular, glands blackish, spheric, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface densely hairy, adaxial sparsely hairy.
18–64-flowered, racemes;
central axes (18–)40–110(–130) mm, leafy at bases.
2–4(–6)-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
2–8(–16) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy.
4–15 mm, hairy.
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 before or at leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 2–3 mm, hairy externally;
sepals erect to spreading, ovate-oblong, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins usually entire, sometimes glandular-toothed or eglandular, sometimes ciliate, surfaces hairy;
petals white, oblong to obovate, 4–7 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
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.
yellow, orange, or red, slightly glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 9–18 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened.
Prunus virginiana
Prunus gracilis
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.)
Typically, sepals of Prunus gracilis are eglandular; in some specimens, glands occur along the margins. Similar glands are sometimes found on the tips of teeth along the leaf margins. The teeth are always sharp-pointed rather than blunt or rounded as they are in those plums whose leaves consistently have glandular teeth. Presence of glands on the sepals is not correlated with glands on leaf marginal teeth. Prunus gracilis, native to the southern Great Plains, is very similar to P. maritima, a plum of the eastern seaboard over 1600 km away.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Racemes (18–)40–70(–95) mm; petals (2–)2.5–4 mm; leaf blades usually obovate, lengths of larger less than 2 times widths. | var. virginiana |
1. Racemes (30–)60–110(–130) mm; petals 4–5(–7) mm; leaf blades elliptic to oblanceolate, lengths of larger at least 2 times widths. | var. demissa |
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
CalFlora, CalPhotos, 
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
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USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
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