''Prunus tomentosa'' is a species of ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...

'' native to northern and western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(including

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, and possibly northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, though probably only cultivated there).Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed., vol. 3. John Murray .Flora of China
''Cerasus tomentosa''
/ref> Common names for ''Prunus tomentosa'' include Nanjing cherry, Korean cherry, Manchu cherry, downy cherry, Shanghai cherry, Ando cherry, mountain cherry, Chinese bush cherry, and Chinese dwarf cherry.

Description

It is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

, irregular in shape, 0.3–3 m (rarely 4 m) high and possibly somewhat wider. The bark is glabrous and copper-tinted black. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are alternate, 2–7 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, oval to obovate, acuminate with irregularly serrate margins, rugose, dark green,

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

above and tomentose below, with

gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

ular petioles. The flowers are white or pink in a scarlet

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

, opening with or before the leaves in spring. They are reliably profuse, arranged in clusters on scarlet

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

s and are 1.5–2.0 cm in diameter. The fruit is a sweet but slightly tart

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

5–12 mm (rarely to 25 mm) in diameter, scarlet, ripening in early summer, with a large seed. Though often called a "cherry" and superficially resembling them, Nanking cherry is closer related to plums than true cherries. It prefers full sun and grows naturally in a variety of soils. It is drought-resistant, and cold-resistant to

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

2. File:Prunus tomentosa0.jpg, Flowers File:Leaves of Prunus tomentosa in June.jpg, Leaves File:Aengdu.jpg, Fruits File:Prunus tomentosa pollen.jpg, Pollen

Uses

The plant has long been widely cultivated throughout eastern Asia for its flowers and fruit. It was introduced to the British Isles in 1870, and the United States by the

Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...

in 1892. It is cultivated for a number of purposes. The fruit is edible, being an ingredient of juice, jam, and wine, and in pickled vegetables and mushrooms. It is also grown as an ornamental plant, prized for its flowers and fruit, and pruned for

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

, twin-trunk or clump shapes, or left upright. It is used for dwarfing rootstock for other cherries. In Manchuria and the Midwest United States, the shrub is planted in hedgerows to provide a windbreak. Under cultivation, it flourishes in well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Several cultivars are grown; examples include 'Graebneriana' (Germany), 'Insularis' (Japan and Korea), 'Leucocarpa' (Manchuria; white fruit), and 'Spaethiana' (Europe). Prunus tomentosa4

Problems

''Prunus tomentosa'' can suffer from borer insects, and under stress can have brown rot. It is not a good cherry choice for places around the world where tolerance for heat and humidity is needed such as the southern United States.

Classification

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

described the species from cultivated material collected in Japan between August 1775 and November 1776 while based on Dejima Island in Nagasaki Bay. He published it twice, first in

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

's ''Systema Vegetabilium'', ed. 14 (p. 464) in May–June 1784, and again in Thunberg's ''Flora Japonica'' (p. 203) in August 1784. He described the species as "fol. ovatis subtus tomentosis", leaving no doubt that the plant was named from the tomentum, or wooly hairs, on the underside of the leaves. Murray gives credit to Thunberg.The ICBN requires "Thunb. in Murray" when full bibliographic citation is given, but just "Thunb." when it is not.

References

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External links