Prunus mexicana

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Prunus mexicana in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Prunus mexicana, Wats. (P. australis, Muns. P. reticulata, P. tenuifolia, P. polyandra and P. arkansana, Sarg.). Big-tree Plum. The southern representative of P. americana, as P. nigra is the northern : it is treelike, not sprouting from the roots or forming thickets: lvs. oblong-obovate to obovate, 3-5 in. long, rounded or subcordate at base, abruptly acuminate at apex, sharply and sometimes doubly serrate, short-pubescent above at least when young and long-pubescent beneath (and often confused with P. americana var. mollis); petiole usually bearing 1 or more short-stalked glands at or near the apex: fls. 3/4in. across, white, in small nearly sessile umbels, the pedicels usually glabrous; calyx-lobes mostly reflexed, nearly or quite as long as the tube, dentate at apex or sometimes entire, obscurely glandular, pubescent within; petals variable in shape, usually pubescent and mostly entire: fr. globose or rarely oblong, sometimes 1 in. or more diam., purplish red with bluish bloom; pit or stone obovoid or nearly globular, turgid, the surface smooth or essentially so. S. W. Ky. and W. Tenn. to Okla. and Mex.—Wild fr. is sometimes gathered, and it varies in size and quality, but the species has received little attention horticulturally, although used experimentally as a stock to which its non-suckering habit adapts it. It is said that a hybrid has been produced with P. salicina. Wight, who has recently re-characterized this species, writes that "Although long confused with Prunus americana, and in the herbarium sometimes difficult to distinguish from P. americana var. lanata, the species is nevertheless a very distinct one. It never forms thickets, as does P. americana and its subspecies, but occurs always as a tree with a well-defined trunk, which in the older trees differs in its furrowed bark. The young leaves as they appear are mostly somewhat obtuse at the apex instead of acuminate; the older leaves are usually broader in proportion to their length, and the serration of the margin is slightly less pronounced. The flowers, also have petals somewhat broader in proportion to their length than in P. americana, while the stone is obovoid or round and more turgid." CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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