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Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa)

Description

The Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) is a species of Prunus native to northern and western China (including Tibet), Korea, Mongolia, and possibly northern India (Jammu and Kashmir, though probably only cultivated there). Other common names for P. tomentosa include Korean cherry, Manchu cherry, downy cherry, Shanghai cherry, Ando cherry, mountain cherry, Chinese bush cherry, or Chinese dwarf cherry. It is a deciduous shrub, irregular in shape, 0.3-3 m (rarely 4 m) high and possibly somewhat wider. The bark is glabrous and copper-tinted black. The leaves are alternate, 2-7 cm long and 1-3.5 cm broad, oval to obovate, acuminate with irregularly serrate margins, rugose, dark green, pubescent above and tomentose below, with glandular petioles. The flowers are white or pink in a scarlet calyx, opening with or before the leaves in spring. They are reliably profuse, arranged in clusters on scarlet pedicels and are 1.5-2.0 cm in diameter. The fruit is a sweet but slightly tart cherry, 5-12 mm (rarely to 25 mm) in diameter, scarlet, ripening in early summer, with a large seed. It prefers full sun and grows naturally in a variety of soils. It is drought-resistant, and cold-resistant to hardiness zone 2.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Magnoliopsida

          • Order: Rosales

            • Family: Rosaceae

              • Genus: Prunus