''Prunus pumila'', commonly called sand cherry, is a North American species of

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

in the

rose family Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but some ...

. It is widespread in eastern and central

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

from

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

west to

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and the northern United States from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, south as far as

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, with a few isolated populations in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. It grows in sandy locations such as shorelines and dunes. ''Prunus pumila'' 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 Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub or 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 by their multiple ...

that grows to tall depending on the variety. It forms dense

clonal colonies A clonal colony or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals, such as plants, fungi, or bacteria, that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively, not sexually, from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in ...

by sprouts from the root system. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are leathery, long, with a serrated margin. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are in diameter with five white petals and 25–30 stamens. They are produced in small clusters of two to four. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a small

in diameter, ripening to dark purple in early summer.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .Flora of North America, ''Prunus pumila'' Linnaeus, 1767. Sandcherry, cerisier des sables
/ref> ;Varieties * ''Prunus pumila'' var. ''besseyi'' (Bailey) Gleason, western sand cherry (also called Rocky Mountain cherry)Saskatchewan, Manitoba, western Ontario, south to Colorado and Kansas * ''Prunus pumila'' var. ''depressa'' (Pursh) Gleason, eastern sand cherryOntario, Québec, New Brunswick south to Pennsylvania * ''Prunus pumila'' var. ''pumila'', Great Lakes sand cherryshores of

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

* ''Prunus pumila'' var. ''susquehanae'' (hort. ex Willd.) Jaeger, Susquehana sand cherryfrom Manitoba east to Maine, south to Tennessee * ''

Prunus × cistena ''Prunus'' × ''cistena'', the purple leaf sand cherry or dwarf red-leaf plum, is a hybrid species of ''Prunus'', the result of a cross between ''Prunus cerasifera'' (cherry plum or myrobalan plum) and ''Prunus pumila'' (sand cherry). A leggy bus ...

'' (purple leaf sand cherry) is a hybrid of ''

Prunus cerasifera __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.Niels Ebbesen Hansen Niels Ebbesen Hansen (January 4, 1866 – October 5, 1950) was a Danish-American horticulturist, botanist, and agricultural explorer for the United States Department of Agriculture and the state of South Dakota. He searched the harsh environments ...

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University (SDSU or SD State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest university and is the sec ...

in 1910. They grow to be about tall and can live for up to 20 years.

Gallery

Prunus pumila var. depressa kz01.jpg, ''P. pumila'' var. ''depressa'' in bloom Prunus pumila var pumila, June.jpg, ''P. pumila'' var. ''pumila'' just after flowering, in June Prunus pumila 4 (5097489635).jpg, Mature flowers Prunus pumila (Sand Cherry) (09246a38-f43e-4dea-9228-bfa42287be9f).jpg, Cherries (mostly unripe) growing on branches Prunus pumila 2-eheep (5097472729).jpg, Close-up of leaves

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1249454 pumila Flora of Canada Flora of the United States Plants described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus