Prunus cerasifera
Common name
cherry plum
Family
Rosaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PRUCER
Habitat
Terrestrial. Forest margins, sand dunes, stream margins.
Features
Deciduous shrub or small tree to about 8 m high with short trunk and numerous spiny branches. Leaves are up to 80 x 45 mm, usually green but sometimes purple. Leaves are thin, on short petiole and have serrulate margins. The white flowers are usually in small clusters. The globose fruit are up to 30 mm long, yellow to orange-red or scarlet, sometimes dark crimson. The flesh is sweet and contains a smooth stone.
Similar taxa
Can be separated from other Prunus species by the glabrous fruit, young stems and mature leaves. A purple-leaved variety with dark crimson fruits, is widely cultivated; wild progeny retain the purple coloration.
Flowering
August, September
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
November, January
Year naturalised
1958
Origin
Asia Minor, Caucasus
Reason For Introduction
Ornamental
Reproduction
Spreads by seed.
Seed
seeds very freely.
Dispersal
People, birds.
Tolerances
Thrives in cold, upland localities as well as coastal places.