Prunus ilicifolia
Encyclopedia
Prunus ilicifolia is an evergreen shrub to tree, producing edible cherries, with shiny and spiny
toothed leaves similar in appearance to holly
. It is native to the chaparral
areas of coastal California
and northern Baja California
,, as well as the desert chaparral areas of the Mojave desert
.
Holly-leaved cherry grows 8 to 30 feet tall, with thick, alternate
leaves 1 to 2 inches in length. It has small white flowers growing in clusters, similar in appearance to most members of the rose family, Rosaceae
, flowering from March to May. The flowers are terminal on small stalks, with the youngest at the cluster center. The purple to black fruit is sweet,with a very thick pulp around a large single stone (drupe
).
The plant is prized for cultivation, showy and easily grown from seed, and has been cultivated for hundreds of years (or more) as a food source, and tolerates twice yearly pruning when often used as a hedge. The plant likes full sun, loose open soil (porous), and tolertes drought conditions well, but needs regular watering when young. Bees are attracted to it.
Native Americans fermented the fruit into a drink used to get intoxicated. "Prunus" comes from the old Latin for "plum". "Ilici - folia means "holly like - leaves". This is the only species of the genus
Prunus
native to the Santa Monica Mountains
that divide the Los Angeles basin from the San Fernando Valley, California.
It is an evergreen
shrub
or small tree
up to 15 m tall, with dense, hard leaves (sclerophyllous) foliage. The leaves
are 1.6-12 cm long with a 4–25 mm petiole and spiny margins, somewhat resembling those of the holly
, hence its English name. The leaves are dark green when mature and generally shiny on top, and have a smell resembling almond
s when crushed. The flower
s are small (1-5 mm), white, produced on raceme
s in the spring. The fruit
is a cherry
12–25 mm diameter, edible and sweet, but contains little flesh surrounding the smooth seed.
:
and foothill woodland
s along the Coast Ranges below 1,600 m. Its distribution extends from northern Baja California
along the California
coast to the northernmost extent of the Coast Ranges,, as well as into the desert chaparral areas of the Mojave desert
. In chaparral communities, it tends to inhabit north-facing slopes, erosion channels, or other moist, cool sites.
It is a persistent member of chaparral communities, being slow-growing but long-lived; common chaparral flora associates are toyon
, western poison-oak
and coffeeberry
. In the absence of fire, P. ilicifolia will outlive or outshade surrounding vegetation, making room for seedlings. Eventually, it will form extensive stands codominated by scrub oak.
from the stump after fires, the seeds are not fire-adapted like those of many other chaparral plants. Instead, it relies on the natural death of surrounding vegetation during long periods of fire-free conditions to make room for its seedlings.
It has been reported that the seeds will only germinate
after an acid treatment, such as that received when they pass through the digestive tracts of coyote
s or bird
s which feed on the fruits. The coyotes are discouraged from eating the seeds themselves by cyanide
, which is released from the seeds if they are cracked. Others report germination levels are high with only suitable moisture and temperature levels. The seeds are also reported to require sunlight
to germinate. However, near 100% germination rates have been achieved with wild-collected seed buried completely in pots with a peatlite mix.
s of the pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon
) feed on this and other members of the riparian woodland plant community.
and wildlife gardens, and drought-tolerant sustainable landscaping
.
Thorns, spines, and prickles
In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...
toothed leaves similar in appearance to holly
Holly
Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....
. It is native to the chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
areas of coastal California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and northern Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
,, as well as the desert chaparral areas of the Mojave desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
.
Holly-leaved cherry grows 8 to 30 feet tall, with thick, alternate
Phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...
leaves 1 to 2 inches in length. It has small white flowers growing in clusters, similar in appearance to most members of the rose family, Rosaceae
Rosaceae
Rosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...
, flowering from March to May. The flowers are terminal on small stalks, with the youngest at the cluster center. The purple to black fruit is sweet,with a very thick pulp around a large single stone (drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
).
The plant is prized for cultivation, showy and easily grown from seed, and has been cultivated for hundreds of years (or more) as a food source, and tolerates twice yearly pruning when often used as a hedge. The plant likes full sun, loose open soil (porous), and tolertes drought conditions well, but needs regular watering when young. Bees are attracted to it.
Native Americans fermented the fruit into a drink used to get intoxicated. "Prunus" comes from the old Latin for "plum". "Ilici - folia means "holly like - leaves". This is the only species of the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Prunus
Prunus
Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes the plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and almonds. There are around 430 species spread throughout the northern temperate regions of the globe. Many members of the genus are widely cultivated for fruit and ornament.-Botany:Members of the genus...
native to the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
that divide the Los Angeles basin from the San Fernando Valley, California.
Description
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
or small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
up to 15 m tall, with dense, hard leaves (sclerophyllous) foliage. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are 1.6-12 cm long with a 4–25 mm petiole and spiny margins, somewhat resembling those of the holly
Holly
Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....
, hence its English name. The leaves are dark green when mature and generally shiny on top, and have a smell resembling almond
Almond
The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s when crushed. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are small (1-5 mm), white, produced on raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s in the spring. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
12–25 mm diameter, edible and sweet, but contains little flesh surrounding the smooth seed.
Subspecies
There are two subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
:
- P. ilcifolia subsp. ilicifolia - mainland California and Baja California, red fruit 12–18 mm diameter
- P. ilicifolia subsp. lyonii (Eastw.) Raven - Catalina cherry, Channel Islands of CaliforniaChannel Islands of CaliforniaThe Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...
(San ClementeSan Clemente IslandSan Clemente Island is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. Defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 2 of Census Tract 5991 of Los Angeles County, California, it is long and...
, Santa CatalinaSanta Catalina Island, CaliforniaSanta Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
, Santa CruzSanta Cruz IslandSanta Cruz Island was the largest privately owned island off the continental United States, but is currently part-owned by the National Park service . The island, located off the coast of California, is long and from wide...
and Santa Rosa IslandSanta Rosa Island, CaliforniaSanta Rosa Island is the second largest of the Channel Islands of California at 53,195 acres . Defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block 3009, Block Group 3, Census Tract 29.10 of Santa Barbara County, California, the 2000 census showed an official population of 2 persons. It is part of...
islands), blue-black fruit 15–25 mm diameter
Distribution, habitat, and ecology
Prunus ilicifolia is native to California chaparralChaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
and foothill woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
s along the Coast Ranges below 1,600 m. Its distribution extends from northern Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
along the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
coast to the northernmost extent of the Coast Ranges,, as well as into the desert chaparral areas of the Mojave desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. In chaparral communities, it tends to inhabit north-facing slopes, erosion channels, or other moist, cool sites.
It is a persistent member of chaparral communities, being slow-growing but long-lived; common chaparral flora associates are toyon
Toyon
Heteromeles arbutifolia , and commonly known as Toyon, is a common perennial shrub native to California down to Baja California....
, western poison-oak
Western Poison-oak
Toxicodendron diversilobum, western poison oak or Pacific poison-oak is in the Anacardiaceae family and is a plant best known for its ability to cause allergic rashes after contact...
and coffeeberry
Rhamnus californica
Rhamnus californica , is called coffeeberry because its berries contain seeds which look like coffee beans—it is also called California buckthorn...
. In the absence of fire, P. ilicifolia will outlive or outshade surrounding vegetation, making room for seedlings. Eventually, it will form extensive stands codominated by scrub oak.
Regeneration and seedlings
Although it will resproutResprouter
Resprouters are plant species that are able to survive fire by the activation of dormant vegetative buds to produce regrowth.Plants may resprout by means of lignotubers at the base or epicormic buds on the trunk or major branches....
from the stump after fires, the seeds are not fire-adapted like those of many other chaparral plants. Instead, it relies on the natural death of surrounding vegetation during long periods of fire-free conditions to make room for its seedlings.
It has been reported that the seeds will only germinate
Germination
Germination is the process in which a plant or fungus emerges from a seed or spore, respectively, and begins growth. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the...
after an acid treatment, such as that received when they pass through the digestive tracts of coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s or bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s which feed on the fruits. The coyotes are discouraged from eating the seeds themselves by cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
, which is released from the seeds if they are cracked. Others report germination levels are high with only suitable moisture and temperature levels. The seeds are also reported to require sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...
to germinate. However, near 100% germination rates have been achieved with wild-collected seed buried completely in pots with a peatlite mix.
Butterflies
The caterpillarCaterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s of the pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon
Papilio eurymedon
Papilio eurymedon, the pale swallowtail or pallid swallowtail is a relatively common swallowtail butterfly found throughout much of the western United States. It is found on the Pacific coast from northern Baja California to southernmost British Columbia and inland to New Mexico and the Black Hills...
) feed on this and other members of the riparian woodland plant community.
Cultivation
Prunus ilicifolia is used in California native plantsCalifornia native plants
California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...
and wildlife gardens, and drought-tolerant sustainable landscaping
Sustainable landscaping
Sustainable landscaping encompasses a variety of practices that have developed in response to environmental issues. These practices are used in every phase of landscaping, including design, construction, implementation and management of residential and commercial landscapes. Issues of...
.
External links
- High Desert Trees access date March 26th, 2010
- Desert-Tropicals: Hollyleaf Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia) access date March 26th, 2010