Prunus cerasifera: Difference between revisions

| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/rjp-44|title=The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species |accessdateaccess-date=27 January 2014}}</ref>

Wild types are large [[shrub]]s or small [[tree]]s reaching 8–12&nbsp;m (25–40 feet) tall, sometimes spiny, with glabrous, ovate [[deciduous]] [[leaf|leaves]] 3–7&nbsp;cm (1.5–2.5 inches) long.<ref name=Stace>{{cite book|last=Stace|first=C. A.|authorlinkauthor-link = Stace, C. A.|year=2010|title=New Flora of the British Isles|edition=Third|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location = Cambridge, U.K.| isbn=9780521707725}}</ref>{{rp|196}} It is one of the first European trees to [[flower]] in spring,<ref name=Stace/> often starting in mid-February before the leaves have opened. The flowers are white or pale pink and about 2&nbsp;cm (0.8 inches) across, with five petals and many stamens. The [[fruit]] is an edible [[drupe]], 2–3&nbsp;cm in diameter, ripening to yellow or red from early July to mid-September. They are self-fertile but can also be [[pollinated]] by other ''Prunus'' varieties such as the [[Victoria plum]].<ref name="Kitchen">{{cite book|last1=Titmarsh|first1=Alan|title=The Kitchen Gardener|date=2008|publisher=BBC Books|page=247}}</ref> The plant propagates by seed or by suckering, and is often used as the rootstock for other ''Prunus'' species and cultivars.<ref name=Stace/>

The cherry plum is a popular [[Ornamental plant|ornamental tree]] for [[garden]] and [[landscaping]] use, grown for its very early flowering. Numerous [[cultivar]]s have been developed, many of them selected for purple foliage, such as ''P cerasifera'' var ''pissardii'' <small>(Carrière) L.H. Bailey</small> (''P.'' 'Atropurpurea').<ref name=Stace/><ref name=pissard>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060708234550/http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/PRUCERA.pdf Pissard Plum Fact Sheet]</ref> The cultivar 'Nigra' with black foliage and pink flowers, has gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/61117/Prunus-cerasifera-Nigra/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra' AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk |access-date= |accessdate=22 February 2020}}</ref> [[Prunus × cistena|''Prunus'' × ''cistena'']] (purple leaf sand cherry), a hybrid of ''Prunus cerasifera'' and ''[[Prunus pumila]]'', the sand cherry, also won the Award of Garden Merit.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/47608/Prunus-x-cistena/Details | title = ''Prunus'' × ''cistena'' | publisher = RHS | accessdateaccess-date = 18 February 2019}}</ref>