Prunus cerasifera, Ehrh.

7. P. cerasifera Ehrh. View in CoL , Beitr. Naturk. 4: 17 (1789)

(inch P. divaricata Ledeb. Shrub or tree up to 8 m, with numerous intricate, fine, sometimes spiny branches; young twigs glabrous and glossy. Leaves 4-7 x 2-3-5 cm, oblong-obovate, cuneate at the base, regularly crenate or appressed-serrate, glabrous and glossy above, pubescent on the veins beneath. Flowers mostly solitary, appearing with or slightly before the leaves; pedicel c. 15 mm, glabrous; petals 8-10 mm, usually white. Fruit 20-30 mm, globose, glabrous, red or yellow; endocarp subglobose, keeled, smooth. Balkan peninsula; Krym; planted elsewhere for its fruit or for hedges and locally naturalized. Al Bu G r Ju Rs (K) Tu [Au Br Da G a Ge Hu It Rm].

Var. pissardii (Carrière) L. H. Bailey, with dark red leaves and flowers tinged with reddish-pink, is often grown in gardens for ornament.