Prunus
Content
Description
Trees or shrubs, rarely with thorns.
Leaves simple, pinnately nerved, margin incised or entire, with glands in the margin and/or on the underside or on the petiole.
Stipules free or (rarely) connate, on the twigs.
Inflorescence basically a raceme, rarely branched, in a large part of the genus reduced to a few-flowered umbel or to only one or two flowers.
Flowers normally 5-merous, usually bisexual.
Sepals and petals well distinct except in sect.
Petals usually white or pink.
Stamens many (up to 85).
Fruit a drupe, mesocarp in wild species not very thick, fleshy to (rather) dry, endocarp bony to woody, thin to thick.
Seed with thin testa, without endosperm.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical, Cosmopolitan present
At least 200 species, cosmopolitan. In Malesia c. 35 species and one or two rarely cultivated ones.
Taxonomy
The genus Prunus contains a fair number of useful species with edible fruits that have since long been domesticated, cultivated, and changed by man. Taxonomy has in the past often over-classified such groups, giving generic status to each of the cultivated species. This has also happenened in Prunus, where apricot, cherry, almond, peach have been placed in Armeniaca, Cerasus, Amygdalus, Persica, respectively. It is more in agreement with standards set in the classification of 'useless' groups to unite these genera and recognize subgenera for some of them. A useful classification of the genus is:
The order in which the subgenera are placed, is not phylogenetical, Padus probably being the most 'primitive' subgenus.
Of the subgenera, only Laurocerasus is represented in Malesia by native wild species, Padus has one insufficiently known species which may or may not be wild (see Prunus C), the other three subgenera are distinctly temperate and not successful in cultivation in the Malesian region. Only P. persica has been mentioned at the end of the present treatment.
- Subgenus Prunus
- (among others P. armeniaca L., apricot; P. domestica L., European plum; P. sali-cina Lindl., Japanese plum)
- Subgenus Amygdalus (L.) Focke
- (among others P. amygdalus Batsch, almond; P. persica (L.) Batsch, peach and nectarine)
- Subgenus Cerasus (Miller) Focke
- (among others P. avium L., sweet cherry; P. cerasus, sour cherry)
- Subgenus Padus (Miller) Focke
- (among others P. padus; P. serotina)
- Subgenus Laurocerasus (Tourn. ex Duhamel) Rehd
The order in which the subgenera are placed, is not phylogenetical, Padus probably being the most 'primitive' subgenus.
Of the subgenera, only Laurocerasus is represented in Malesia by native wild species, Padus has one insufficiently known species which may or may not be wild (see Prunus C), the other three subgenera are distinctly temperate and not successful in cultivation in the Malesian region. Only P. persica has been mentioned at the end of the present treatment.