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• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Landscaping
• Growth
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Taxonomy

Notes:

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Physical Description

Family Rosaceae:

Trees, shrubs, or herbs, deciduous or evergreen. Stems erect, scandent, arching, prostrate, or creeping, armed or unarmed. Buds usually with several exposed scales, sometimes with only 2. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, simple or compound; stipules paired, free or adnate to petiole, rarely absent, persistent or deciduous; petiole usually 2-glandular apically; leaf blade often serrate at margin, rarely entire. Inflorescences various, from single flowers to umbellate, corymbose, racemose or cymose-paniculate. Flowers usually actinomorphic, bisexual, rarely unisexual and then plants dioecious. Hypanthium (formed from basal parts of sepals, petals, and stamens) free from or adnate to ovary, short or elongate. Sepals usually 5, rarely fewer or more, imbricate; epicalyx segments sometimes also present. Petals as many as sepals, inserted below margin of disk, free, imbricate, sometimes absent. Disk lining hypanthium, usually entire, rarely lobed. Stamens usually numerous, rarely few, always in a complete ring at margin of or above disk; filaments usually free, very rarely connate; anthers small, didymous, rarely elongate, 2-locular. Carpels 1 to many, free, or ± connate and then adnate to inner surface of cupular receptacle; ovary inferior, semi-inferior, or superior; ovules usually 2 in each carpel, rarely 1 or several, anatropous, superposed. Styles as many as carpels, terminal, lateral, or basal, free or sometimes connate. Fruit a follicle, pome, achene, or drupe, rarely a capsule, naked or enclosed in persistent hypanthium and sometimes also by sepals. Seeds erect or pendulous, sometimes winged, usually exalbuminous, very rarely with thin endosperm; cotyledons mostly fleshy and convex abaxially, rarely folded or convolute.

Between 95 and 125 genera and 2825-3500 species: cosmopolitan, mostly in N temperate zone; 55 genera (two endemic) and 950 species (546 endemic) in China.

Many plants of this family are of economic importance and contribute to people s livelihoods. The Rosaceae contain a great number of fruit trees of temperate regions. The fruits contain vitamins, acids, and sugars and can be used both raw and for making preserves, jam, jelly, candy, various drinks, wine, vinegar, etc. The dried fruits of the genera

Amygdalus and Armeniaca are of high commercial value. Some plants in the genus Rosa containing essential oils or with a high vitamin content are used in industry. Rosaceae wood is used for making various articles, stems and roots are used for making tannin extract, and young leaves are used as a substitute for tea. Numerous species are used for medical purposes or are cultivated as ornamentals.

The Rosaceae are very well represented in China, with great economic and scientific importance. The Co-chairs of the Editorial Committee (Wu and Raven) here note that the patterns of relationship are complex and the group is taxonomically difficult. ^[1]

Genus Prunus:

Trees or shrubs, deciduous. Branchlets sometimes spine-tipped. Axillary winter bud solitary, ovoid; terminal winter bud absent. Stipules membranous, soon caducous. Leaves simple, alternate, convolute [or conduplicate] when young; petiolate or sessile; petiole apex or base of leaf blade margin with or without nectaries; leaf blade margin variously crenate or coarsely serrate. Inflorescences apparently axillary, solitary or to 3-flowered in a fascicle; bracts small, soon caducous. Flowers opening before or at same time as leaves. Hypanthium campanulate. Sepals 5, imbricate. Petals 5, white, sometimes purple-veined, rarely greenish, inserted on rim of hypanthium, imbricate. Stamens 20-30, in 2 whorls; filaments unequal. Carpel 1; ovary superior, 1-loculed, glabrous or sometimes villous; ovules 2, collateral, pendulous. Style terminal, elongated. Fruit a drupe, glabrous, often glaucous, usually with a longitudinal groove; mesocarp fleshy, not splitting when ripe; endocarp laterally compressed, smooth, rarely grooved or rugose.

About 30 species: Asia, Europe, North America; seven species (two endemic, three introduced) in China.

Many plum species are cultivated for their edible fruit and some for their flowers.^[2]

Habit: Deciduous.

Flowers: Beautiful fragrant flowers in spring. Flowers have five petals, five sepals. • Bloom Period: March.

Seeds: Fruit: A drupe with a large stone.

Foliage: Summer foliage: Leaves are smooth, simple, broad, ovate or broad-eliptic or lanceolate, unlobed and toothed along the margin. Color is medium green.

Distribution

Landscaping

Care: Low maintenance. Tolerates rabbits. Young plants need extra phosphorus to encourage good root development.

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15' apart.

Soil: Soil: Tolerates a range of pH, from 4.5 to 7.5, and soil ranging from sandy loam to some clay. Soil can be normal to moist. • Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 6.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Prunus:

There are approximately 4,483 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: P. apetala pilosa · P. divaricata ursina · P. persica domestica · P. persica platycarpa · P. × subhirtella 'Pendula Plena Rosea' (Weeping Higan Cherry) · P. 'Accolade' (Flowering Cherry) · P. 'Amanogawa' · P. 'Amayadori' · P. 'Aratama' · P. 'Ariake' · P. 'Asagi' · P. 'Asano' · P. 'Avimag' · P. 'Benden' · P. 'Beni Yataka' · P. 'Beni-no-dora' · P. 'Beni-yutaka' · P. 'Birch Bark' · P. 'Blaze' · P. 'Blushing Bride' · P. 'Bruce' (Plum) · P. 'Candy Floss' · P. 'Champagne Dream' · P. 'Cheal's Weeping' · P. 'Chocolate Ice' · P. 'Choshu-hizakura' · P. 'Collingwood Ingram' · P. 'Colt' · P. 'Comet' · P. 'Daikoku' · P. 'Dawsar' · P. 'Delight' (Cherry Plum) · P. 'Delma' · P. 'Dream Catcher' (Flowering Cherry) · P. 'Edo-zakura' · P. 'Ethel' · P. 'Fereley' · P. 'Ferlenain' · P. 'First Lady' · P. 'Fudan-zakura' · P. 'Fugenzo' · P. 'Fuki' · P. 'Geraldinae' · P. 'Gisela 4' · P. 'Gisela 5' · P. 'Gisela 5a' · P. 'Golden Nectar' (European Plum) · P. 'Gyoiko' · P. 'Hana-kagoto' · P. 'Hanagasa' · P. 'Hillieri Spire' · P. 'Hillieri' · P. 'Hilling's Weeping' · P. 'Hisakura' · P. 'Hokusai' · P. 'Horinji' · P. 'Ichiyo' · P. 'Imose' · P. 'Jo-nioi' · P. 'Kanzan' · P. 'Kiku-shidare-zakura' · P. 'Kiku-zakura' · P. 'Korros' · P. 'Kouka' · P. 'Kulilensis Ruby' · P. 'Kursar' · P. 'Little Pink Perfection' · P. 'Mahogany Lustre' · P. 'Matsuma-Usugasanesomei' · P. 'Matsumae' · P. 'Matsumae-akathu Kinokane' · P. 'Matsumae-akatsu-kinokane' · P. 'Matsumae-akatsukinaden' · P. 'Matsumae-aratama' · P. 'Matsumae-beni-murasaki' · P. 'Matsumae-beni-tamanishiki' · P. 'Matsumae-benigasa' · P. 'Matsumae-benitame' · P. 'Matsumae-fuki' · P. 'Matsumae-hana-gasa' · P. 'Matsumae-hana-guruma' · P. 'Matsumae-hana-miyako' · P. 'Matsumae-hanakagoto' · P. 'Matsumae-hayazaki' · P. 'Matsumae-kosenji Shiroyae' · P. 'Matsumae-mathimur-zakura' · P. 'Matsumae-myojo' · P. 'Matsumae-oshio' · P. 'Matsumae-shirakinu' · P. 'Matsumae-takashio' · P. 'Matsumae-tamagasane' · P. 'Matsumae-usiogaoka' · P. 'Matsumae-usugasanesomei' · P. 'Matsumae-usuyuki' · P. 'Matsumae-wakamushiyazakura' · P. 'Matsumae-yaekotobuki' · P. 'Matsumae-yaemiyama-zakura' · P. 'Matsumae-yaeoromo' · P. 'Mikuruma-Gaeshi' · P. 'Mount Fuji'

Bibliography

• Yü Te-tsun, Lu Ling-ti, Ku Tsue-chih, Li Chao-luan, Kuan Ke-chien & Chiang Wan-fu. 1974, 1985, 1986. Rosaceae. In: Yü Te-tsun, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 36: 1443; 37: 1516; 38: 1133.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 4, 2006.

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1858045

Footnotes:

1. Cuizhi Gu, Chaoluan Li, Lingdi Lu, Shunyuan Jiang, Crinan Alexander, Bruce Bartholomew, Anthony R. Brach, David E. Boufford, Hiroshi Ikeda, Hideaki Ohba, Kenneth R. Robertson & Steven A. Spongberg "Rosaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 46. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. Ku Tsue-chih, Bruce Bartholomew "Prunus". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 401. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.