Prunus emarginata

Prunus emarginata
	Prunus emarginata leaves and flowers
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Prunus
Subgenus:	Prunus subg. Cerasus
Species:	P. emarginata
Binomial name
	Prunus emarginata; (Dougl. ex Hook.) Eaton
	Natural range
Synonyms
	Cerasus arida Greene; Cerasus emarginata Douglas; Padus emarginata (Douglas ex Hook.) S.Ya.Sokolov; Prunus emarginata var. crenulata (Greene) Kearney & Peebles ; Prunus erecta Walp.; Prunus crenulata Tidestr.; Prunus pattoniana hort.; Prunus prunifolia (Greene) Shafer;

Prunus emarginata, the bitter cherry^[2] or Oregon cherry, is a species of Prunus native to western North America, from British Columbia south to Baja California, and east as far as western Wyoming and New Mexico.^[3]^[4] It is often found in recently disturbed areas or open woods on nutrient-rich soil.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Description

Prunus emarginata is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 1–15 metres (3 1⁄2–49 feet) tall with a slender oval trunk with smooth gray to reddish-brown bark with horizontal lenticels. As a tree west of the Cascade Crest the species commonly reaches 80 to a maximum of over 100 feet tall. The leaves are 2–8 centimetres (3⁄4–3 1⁄8 inches) long, thin, egg-shaped, and yellowish-green with unevenly sized teeth on either side. The flowers are small, 10–15 millimetres (3⁄8–5⁄8 in) diameter, with five white petals and numerous hairlike stamens; they are almond-scented, and produced in clusters in spring, and are pollinated by insects. The fruit is a juicy red or purple cherry 7–14 mm (1⁄4–1⁄2 in) diameter, which, as the plant's English name suggests, are bitter. As well as reproducing by seed, it also sends out underground stems which then sprout above the surface to create a thicket.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Flowers
Pits
Bark

There are two varieties:^[6]^[2]

Prunus emarginata var. emarginata. Usually shrubby; young shoots and leaves hairless or only thinly hairy. Most of the species' range.
Prunus emarginata var. mollis (Dougl.) Brew. A larger tree; young shoots and leaves downy. Reddish-brown bark with light horizontal bands resembling water birch.^[9] Oregon north to British Columbia, mainly coastal.

Similar species

Prunus pensylvanica, the pin cherry, is closely related.^[9]

Ecology

Mammals, deer and livestock forage on the leaves.^[10] The cherries are eaten by some birds (especially cedar waxwing),^[11] who in turn distribute the seeds.^[9] The seeds have hard shells which can preserve them for decades before being released by fire.^[9]

The tree is a larval host to the blinded sphinx, elegant sphinx, Lorquin's admiral, pale tiger swallowtail, small-eyed sphinx, spring azure, twin-spotted sphinx, and western tiger swallowtail.^[12]

Cultivation

It has hybridized with the introduced European Prunus avium in the Puget Sound area; the hybrid has been named Prunus × pugetensis. It is intermediate between the parent species, but is nearly sterile, producing almost no cherries.^[13]

Uses

The extremely bitter cherries are inedible to humans.^[11] Native Americans used the bark in basket making.^[9]

Medicinal

Native tribes, most notably Kwakwaka'wakw, used parts of the plant for medicinal purposes, such as poultices and bark infusions.^[14] The isoflavone prunetin was isolated for the first time by Finnemore in 1910 from the bark of P. emarginata.^[15]

References

^ The Plant List, Prunus emarginata (Douglas ex Hook.) Walp.
^ ^a ^b NRCS. "Prunus emarginata". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 October 2015.
^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
^ SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter photos, description, distribution map
^ "Prunus emarginata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Plants of British Columbia: Prunus emarginata
^ ^a ^b Jepson Flora: Prunus emarginata
^ Flora of North America, Prunus emarginata (Douglas) Eaton, Man. Bot. ed. 7. 463. 1836. Bitter cherry
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 242–245. ISBN 978-1-68051-329-5. OCLC 1141235469.
^ Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 467. ISBN 0394507614.
^ ^a ^b Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 538.
^ The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
^ Jacobson, A. L. & Zika, P. F. (2007). A new hybrid cherry, Prunus × pugetensis (P. avium × emarginata, Rosaceae), from the Pacific Northwest. Madroño 54: 74–85. Abstract
^ Casebeer, M. (2004). Discover California Shrubs. Sonora, California: Hooker Press. ISBN 0-9665463-1-8
^ Isoflavones. III. The structure of prunetin and a new synthesis of genistein. R. L. Shriner, C. J. Hull, J. Org. Chem., 1945, 10 (4), pp 288–291

External links

"Prunus emarginata". Plants for a Future.

[1] The Plant List, Prunus emarginata (Douglas ex Hook.) Walp.

[usda-2] NRCS. "Prunus emarginata". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 October 2015.

[3] Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map

[4] SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter photos, description, distribution map

[grin-5] "Prunus emarginata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

[bc-6] Plants of British Columbia: Prunus emarginata

[jeps-7] Jepson Flora: Prunus emarginata

[8] Flora of North America, Prunus emarginata (Douglas) Eaton, Man. Bot. ed. 7. 463. 1836. Bitter cherry

[:022-9] Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 242–245. ISBN 978-1-68051-329-5. OCLC 1141235469.

[10] Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 467. ISBN 0394507614.

[:0-11] Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 538.

[12] The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.

[13] Jacobson, A. L. & Zika, P. F. (2007). A new hybrid cherry, Prunus × pugetensis (P. avium × emarginata, Rosaceae), from the Pacific Northwest. Madroño 54: 74–85. Abstract

[14] Casebeer, M. (2004). Discover California Shrubs. Sonora, California: Hooker Press. ISBN 0-9665463-1-8

[15] Isoflavones. III. The structure of prunetin and a new synthesis of genistein. R. L. Shriner, C. J. Hull, J. Org. Chem., 1945, 10 (4), pp 288–291

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