Prunus virginiana
Prunus pumila
bitter-berry, choke cherry, common chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, western chokecherry, white chokecherry
cerisier des sables, dwarf sand plum, sand cherry
with terminal end buds, glabrous or hairy.
with terminal end buds, glabrous or sparsely to densely puberulent (var. susquehanae).
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 2–10(–13) mm, glabrous or hairy only when young, sometimes glandular distally or on margins at bases of blades, glands 1–2;
blade elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 2.5–8 × 0.8–3 cm, base obtuse, cuneate, or long-attenuate, margins crenulate-serrulate to serrate in distal 1/2–2/3, teeth sharp or blunt, callus-tipped, sometimes glandular, apex short-acuminate to rounded, surfaces glabrous.
18–64-flowered, racemes;
central axes (18–)40–110(–130) mm, leafy at bases.
2–5-flowered, umbellate fascicles.
2–8(–16) mm, usually glabrous, rarely hairy.
3–19 mm, glabrous.
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 leaf emergence;
hypanthium campanulate, 1.7–3 mm, glabrous externally;
sepals erect to reflexed, semicircular, 1.3–2.8 mm, margins glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous;
petals white, oblanceolate, oblong, or suborbiculate, 3–9 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.
dark purple to nearly black, subglobose or broadly ellipsoid, 6–12 mm, glabrous;
mesocarps fleshy;
stones subglobose, ovoid, or fusiform, not flattened.
Prunus virginiana
Prunus pumila
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.)
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
Opinion has varied as to whether Prunus pumila is best treated as one variable species (for example, H. Groh and H. A. Senn 1940; H. A. Gleason 1952; J. R. Rohrer 2000) or as two, three, or four separate species (for example, W. F. Wight 1915; M. L. Fernald 1923b; P. M. Catling et al. 1999). The plants vary in stem posture, twig indument, leaf shape, fruit size and taste, pit size and shape, and ecologic preference. Even though the morphologic characters show almost continuous variation, four varieties are recognized here based largely on differences in ecologic habitat and geographic range.
(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 |
1. Twigs densely puberulent (10× magnification); leaf apices usually obtuse, sometimes acute or rounded, blade lengths ca. 2.6 times widths; sandy pine-oak woods or barrens with open canopy, or adjacent fields and lakeshores. | var. susquehanae |
1. Twigs usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely puberulent; leaf apices short-acuminate, acute, or obtuse, blade lengths ca. 2.9–3.7 times widths; usually in open habitats | → 2 |
2. Stems prostrate to decumbent; leaf blades oblanceolate, lengths ca. 3.7 times widths; stones ovoid to fusiform, 4.5–5 mm wide. | var. depressa |
2. Stems usually erect-ascending, sometimes decumbent or sprawling; leaf blades elliptic, obovate, or oblanceolate, lengths ca. 2.9–3.3 times widths; stones subglobose to ovoid, 5–7 mm wide | → 3 |
3. Leaf blades usually oblanceolate, lengths ca. 3.3 times widths; shores of the Great Lakes on sandy, gravelly, or rocky beaches, dunes, and interdunal flats. | var. pumila |
3. Leaf blades elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, lengths ca. 2.9 times widths; sandy prairies, oak savannas, rock outcrops. | var. besseyi |
- 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
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: OR
- Local Web sites: Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
