Prostrate cherry (Prunus prostrata)
Description
Prunus prostrata (mountain,rock,spreading or prostrate cherry) is a hardy alpine shrub found naturally above about 2000 m. up to as high as 4000 m. in Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey, Albania, Greece, including Crete, Italy, Sardinia, Croatia, France, Corsica, Spain, the Caucasus, Iran, Kashmir and Afghanistan.It grows as tall as 1 m., more typically 0.15-0.30 m., sometimes in the crevices of vertical surfaces. The branches tend to follow the surface at any angle. Flowering patches of the plant on the rocky slopes, sometimes still snow-clad, are striking to climbers.The bark is reddish brown. The leaves are ovate, with serrate margins, tomentose with white down on undersurface, glabrous above. The petioles lack glands. The flowers are an unusual light rose color, coming out in April–May, solitary or in pairs, nearly sessile, with a tubular calyx. There are 22-24 stamens. The fruit is red, ovate, with thin flesh, ripening in July.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Rosales
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Family: Rosaceae
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Genus: Prunus
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