Biology:Prunus alabamensis
| Prunus alabamensis | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Prunus |
| Subgenus: | Prunus subg. Padus |
| Species: | P. alabamensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Prunus alabamensis C. Mohr
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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Prunus alabamensis, the Alabama cherry[3] or Alabama black cherry,[4] is an uncommon or rare[5] species of tree in the rose family endemic to parts of the Southeastern United States. It occurs in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. It is closely related to and found wholly within the range of Prunus serotina,[6] the black cherry, a much more common and widespread species of Prunus that is also native to the region. Alabama cherry is sometimes considered to be a variety of Prunus serotina (P. s. var. alabamensis), however most authors treat it as a distinct species.[6]
Description
Alabama cherry is a deciduous[4] flowering plant in the rose family endemic to the Southeastern United States. It is similar to but distinct in morphology from the closely related Prunus serotina.[6]
Form
Alabama cherry is a small or medium sized tree growing to heights of 20–40 feet (6.1–12.2 m)[4] and a diameter of about 6 inches (15 cm), scarcely exceeding 25–30 feet (7.6–9.1 m) in height.[7]
Bark
The immature bark is gray and smooth; mature bark is rough and becomes broken into plates that are dark-gray to black in color. Young shoots or twigs are green and pubescent,[4][7] often densely so, with rusty-brown hairs.[8]
Leaves
Leaves are alternate; ovate to elliptic in shape; rounded or slightly narrowed at the base; usually obtuse, rounded, or emarginate at the apex, but sometimes short acuminate, abruptly acute, or acutish; 3–12.5 centimetres (1.2–4.9 in) in length and 2–6.5 centimetres (0.79–2.56 in) in width; with petioles that are 2–12 millimetres (0.079–0.472 in) long. Margins are bluntly serrated with appressed teeth that have glandular tips. The upperside of the leaf is dark green and the underside is a lighter green. The underside is uniformly but sparsely pubescent with rusty-colored hairs that are longer and more dense along the midrib but not conspicuous; axils of veins lack tufts of hair entirely; veinlets are prominent. The texture of leaves is leathery. In autumn, leaves turn a red or orange color.[4][7][8][9]
Flowers
Flowers grow from the axils of leaves on elongated racemes that are 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) long. Flowers have 5 small, white petals, and the rachis, peduncles, and calyx are pubescent.[4][7] Flowering occurs from April to May.[8]
Fruit
The fruit is a small reddish, dark purple, or black, globose drupe, about 10 millimetres (0.39 in) in diameter.[4][7][10] Fruiting occurs from June to August.[8]
Inflorescence
Flower
Underside of leaf
Upperside of leaf
Immature bark with lenticels
Habitat and range
Alabama cherry is rare to uncommon within its range.[5][6][10] It grows in mixed oak-pine-hickory forests in sandy or rocky dry woodlands, on rocky slopes and sandhills, and on the summits of low mountains,[10] often associated with the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). It grows at elevations of 20–700 metres (66–2,297 ft).[4][8] It is known to occur in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina,[3][4][11]
Classification
Relation to Prunus serotina
Alabama cherry is sympatric with its close relative Prunus serotina, occurring wholly within its natural range and being similar but morphologically distinct from it. They are easily distinguished from each other by the differences of their leaves and inflorescences.[6][7] Alabama cherry is sometimes considered to be conspecific with P. serotina; that is, a variety or subspecies of P. serotina rather than its own species. Plants of the World Online[12] and Flora of North America,[8] as examples, classify it as Prunus serotina var. alabamensis (C. Mohr) Little, but local botanical authorities and most authors classify Alabama cherry as its own distinct species,[6] including the Alabama Herbarium Consortium, the University of West Alabama,[4] and Auburn University;[13] the Global Biodiversity Information Facility also lists Prunus alabamensis (C. Mohr) as being the accepted name for this plant.[14] Phylogenetic analyses have been done on Alabama cherry to determine if it is a genetically distinct species. A 2013 analysis found no clear genetic distinction between P. s. var. serotina from Alabama and P. alabamensis,[6][15] however a following study in 2017 determined that P. alabamensis and P. serotina are indeed modestly genetically differentiated and either frequently exchange genes with each other or do not exchange genes and have only recently diverged. The study also suggested that future research should investigate what underlying factors are maintaining the phenotypic distinctiveness between the two species.[6]
Edibility and toxicity
The fruit and seed are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked, however caution should be taken when consuming the seed as this plant belongs to a genus where most or all species produce the volatile toxin hydrogen cyanide, mostly in their leaves and seeds. Levels are usually too small to do any harm, but especially bitter fruits or seeds should not be eaten.[10]
Other uses
Green dyes can be obtained from the leaves and fruits.[10]
References
Wikidata ☰ Q17234544 entry
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- ↑ "Prunus alabamensis | NatureServe Explorer". https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.137205/Prunus_alabamensis.
- ↑ Tropicos, Prunus alabamensis C. Mohr
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Prunus alabamensis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PRAL7. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Alabama Plant Atlas, Prunus alabamensis C. Mohr, Alabama Black Cherry
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Flora of the Southeastern United States | Prunus alabamensis". 2023-07-14. https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/show-taxon.php?&plantname=prunus&limit=1&offset=1&taxonid=3160.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Konrade, Lauren Ashley. "Evaluating range genetics in black cherry (Prunus serotina) and the genetic status of an enigmatic relative, Alabama cherry (Prunus alabamensis) | Chapter 2: Is the rare Alabama cherry (Prunus alabamensis) genetically distinct?". pp. 13–22. https://soar.wichita.edu/bitstream/handle/10057/14475/t17015_Konrade_Sequester.pdf.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Mohr, Charles (March 1899). "Notes on Some New and Little Known Plants of the Alabama Flora". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 26 (3): 118–121. doi:10.2307/2477818. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2477818.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Prunus serotina var. alabamensis - FNA". http://floranorthamerica.org/Prunus_serotina_var._alabamensis.
- ↑ "Key to Prunus, Key A: BLACK-CHERRIES, subgenus Padus - FSUS". https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/show-key.php?highlighttaxonid=3160#verttarget.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Prunus alabamensis Alabama Cherry PFAF Plant Database". https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Prunus+alabamensis.
- ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map for Prunus alabamensis
- ↑ "Prunus serotina var. alabamensis (C.Mohr) Little | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science" (in en). http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:210891-2.
- ↑ "Auburn.edu Plant Database | Alabama Cherry". https://ssl.acesag.auburn.edu/projects/plants/plant/view.php?plantid=54173fdf9d48c5.48032087.
- ↑ "Prunus alabamensis C.Mohr" (in en). https://www.gbif.org/species/3022513.
- ↑ Liu, Xiao-Lin; Wen, Jun; Nie, Ze-Long; Johnson, Gabriel; Liang, Zong-Suo; Chang, Zhao-Yang (2012-12-14). "Polyphyly of the Padus group of Prunus (Rosaceae) and the evolution of biogeographic disjunctions between eastern Asia and eastern North America". Journal of Plant Research 126 (3): 351–361. doi:10.1007/s10265-012-0535-1. ISSN 0918-9440. PMID 23239308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10265-012-0535-1.
