Prunus virginiana
Prunus nigra
bitter-berry, choke cherry, common chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry
black plum, Canada plum, Canadian plum, prunier noir
with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy.
with axillary end buds, usually glabrous, rarely 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 8–22 mm, glabrate with hairs adaxially, sometimes glandular distally, glands 1–3, discoid;
blade broadly elliptic to obovate, (5–)7–11 × 3–6.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded or subcordate, margins doubly crenate-serrate, teeth blunt, glandular, apex abruptly acuminate, abaxial surface hairy along midribs and major veins, adaxial glabrous.
18–64-flowered, racemes;
central axes (18–)40–110(–130) mm, leafy at bases.
2–4-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
2–8(–16) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy.
7–20 mm, usually glabrous, rarely 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 red-tinged, obconic, 3–4(–5) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy externally;
sepals broadly spreading to reflexed, ovate, 2–4(–5) mm, margins glandular-toothed, abaxial surface usually glabrous, rarely sparsely hairy, adaxial glabrous or hairy;
petals white, often fading to pink, suborbiculate to oblong-obovate, 8–13 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.
red, orange, or yellowish, barely glaucous, globose to ellipsoid, 15–30 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones ovoid-ellipsoid, strongly flattened.
= 16.
Prunus virginiana
Prunus nigra
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.)
In the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, Prunus nigra co-occurs with, and is sometimes confused with, P. americana, despite being distinct in both flower and leaf. The red-tinged hypanthia and sepals of P. nigra give the entire inflorescence a pinkish coloration even when the petals are pure white, and the sepals bear obvious glandular teeth along their margins; in P. americana the hypanthia and sepals are green and the sepals bear relatively few glandular teeth or are eglandular. The leaf marginal teeth of P. nigra are rounded and bear glands at their tips or have callus scars where the glands fell off; those of P. americana are acute and eglandular; some may have a callused tip.
(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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