Prunus pumila, commonly called sand cherry, is a North American species of cherry, part of the rose family.
Description Prunus pumila is a deciduous shrub that grows to tall depending on the variety. It forms dense clonal colonies by sprouts from the root system. The leaves are leathery, long, with a serrated margin.
The flowers are in diameter with five white petals and 25–30 stamens. They are produced in small clusters of two to four. The fruit is a small cherry 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
Taxonomy Varieties of the species include:United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service 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 Prunus pumila var. susquehanae (hort. ex Willd.) Jaeger, Susquehana sand cherryfrom Manitoba east to Maine, south to Tennessee Prunus × cistena (purple leaf sand cherry) is a hybrid of Prunus cerasifera (cherry plum) and P. pumila.Plant Facts, Prunus x cistena - Purpleleaf Sand Cherry (Rosaceae) It was developed by Niels Ebbesen Hansen of South Dakota State University in 1910.Nazareth College, Purpleleaf Sand Cherry Prunus x cistena / They grow to be about tall and can live for up to 20 years.
Distribution and habitat It is widespread in eastern and central Canada from New Brunswick west to Saskatchewan and the northern United States from Maine to Montana, south as far as Colorado, Kansas, Indiana, and Virginia, with a few isolated populations in Tennessee and Utah.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map It grows in sandy locations such as shorelines and dunes.
References
External links