''Prunus prostrata'' (mountain, rock, creeping, spreading or prostrate cherry) is a hardy alpine
shrub found naturally above about 2000 m. up to as high as 4000 m. in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Algeria
)
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, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
,
Morocco
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,
Tunisia
)
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, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
,
Syria,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
,
Greece
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,
Sardinia
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,
Croatia
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, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
.
It grows as tall as 1 m., more typically 0.15-0.30 m., sometimes in the crevices of vertical surfaces. The branches tend to follow the surface at any angle. Flowering patches of the plant on the rocky slopes, sometimes still snow-clad, are striking to climbers.
The
bark is reddish brown. The
leaves are ovate, with serrate margins,
tomentose
Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pl ...
with white down on undersurface,
glabrous
Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...
above. The
petioles lack glands. The
flowers
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
are an unusual light rose color, coming out in April–May, solitary or in pairs, nearly sessile, with a tubular
calyx. There are 22-24
stamens. The fruit is red, ovate, with thin flesh, ripening in July.
Uses
The fruit is edible but not preferred by humans. The plant's main use is as in ornamental gardening. It can be grafted to form a tree.
Classification
The name ''Prunus prostrata'' was assigned by
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition. He pub ...
, the French botanist, in ''Icones plantarum Syriae rariorum'', published on his return from a plant-hunting expedition to the Middle East. Prostrata means "lying on the ground", referring to the plant's ground-hugging propensity, a mechanical necessity at high altitude. A prostrate branch bends back to the ground.
Palaeobotanical evidence
A recent study of
pollen and other microfossils from a
core sample
A core sample is a cylindrical section of (usually) a naturally-occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, such as sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube, called a core drill. The ...
taken in an intermontane valley of the
Segura
Segura (, ; la, Thader; ar, شقورة, Shaqūrah, or ) is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain. It has its source in the Sierra de Segura.
Course
The river begins at Santiago Pontones ( province of Jaén), passes Calasparra, C ...
mountains in southern
Spain
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, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
finds ''P. prostrata'' in a "''Prunus'' type" located in two
radiocarbon-dated zones from about 2630 BP to about 1550 BP and again from about 790 BP to present.
[For simplicity the tolerances have not been repeated here. "Present" is 1955/1956 AD.] The ecology of the ''Prunus'' type was "high-altitude open pine forest." The core goes back to 8320 BP, but there is no evidence if ''Prunus'' in it before 2630.
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1258395, from2=Q15535873
prostrata
prostrata
Flora of Southeastern Europe
Flora of North Africa
Flora of Western Asia
Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière