Prunus mexicana
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
Prunus mexicana, commonly known as the Mexican plum,[1] Inch plum, and Bigtree plum,[2] is a North American species of plum tree that can be found in the central United States and Northern Mexico.
Description
Prunus mexicana has a single trunk, an open crown, and reaches a height of Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] It has dark green, simple ovate leaves Script error: No such module "convert". long and Script error: No such module "convert". wide.[2] In the early spring it is covered with five-petaled fragrant white or pale pink flowers Script error: No such module "convert". wide.[2] Its dark gray bark is banded with horizontal lenticels.[3]Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The dark red or purple fruit ripens late in the fall.[4][5]
Prunus mexicana is very similar to Prunus americana, and they intergrade along a broad contact zone centered around Arkansas and Missouri. These intermediate individuals may be impossible to assign to a specific species.[6]
Taxonomy
Prunus mexicana is included in the section Prunocerasus.[7]
Distribution and habitat
The native range of the species stretches from South Dakota east to Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia, and south to the Mexican states of Coahuila and San Luis Potosí.[1][8]
It is usually found on woodland edges or in open fields. It is adaptable to a wide range of soil pH and is drought-tolerant. The trees are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 5 to 9.
Ecology
The fruit is eaten fresh by both mammals and birds.[2]
Uses
The fruit is made into preserves, and the tree can serve as a rootstock for grafting on other plum cultivars.[2]
Gallery
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Flowers of Prunus mexicana
References
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- ↑ a b Template:GRIN
- ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Flora of North America, Prunus mexicana S. Watson, 1882. Mexican or bigtree plum
- ↑ Flora of North America, Prunus americana
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
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External links
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- Prunus sect. Prunocerasus
- Prunus
- Trees of Northern America
- Flora of the United States
- Flora of the Southeastern United States
- Flora of Coahuila
- Flora of Nuevo León
- Flora of San Luis Potosí
- Flora of Tamaulipas
- Plants described in 1882
- Taxa named by Sereno Watson