Prunus americana - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Rosaceae
Habitat
Thickets, open woods, woodland borders.
Associates
On woodland borders with Aster sagittifolius drummondii, Carex blanda, Crataegus punctata, Cryptotaenia canadensis, Fragaria virginiana, Galium aparine, Osmorhiza claytonii, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Potentilla simplex, Prunus serotina, Quercus macrocarpa, Ranunculus abortivus, Rubus occidentalis, Sanicula gregaria, Silere stellata, Solidago ulmifolia, Viburnum lentago, Viola sororia, Vitis riparia.
Distribution
NH west to Manitoba and MT, south to northern FL and OK.
Morphology
Small deciduous tree. Leaves alternate, simple, ovate, usually widest below the middle, to 4" long, more than twice as long as wide, rounded at base, glabrous or slightly hairy, coarsely serrate with sharply acute, glandless teeth. Young stems dark, smooth, with gray horizontal lenticels, often with thorns; mature bark splitting vertically, edges curling back, somewhat scaly. Flowers white, to 1" wide, pedicellate, in small umbels. Fruit a rounded drupe, to 1" in diameter, yellow to red-purple, sometimes glaucous.
Notes
Flowers mid April to late May
Wetland indicator: Upland
The fruits can be pitted like cherries and used for preserves. The flavor is very much like apricots.
References
Dirr, Michael A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants:
Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses.
5th ed. Champaign, Illinois: Stipes Publishing L.L.C.
Farrar, J. L. 1995. Trees of the Northern United States and Canada.
Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY.
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
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Michael Hough © 2005 |