Prunus emarginata var. emarginata
Bittercherry

Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)

Photo taken in the Wenatchee Mountains, wet partially shaded area near stream (0.5 to 2 meters away)

Flowers:

flowers corymbose on common axis, corymbs not leafy-bracteate at base; flowers 10 to 15 mm broad, perigynous; petals white to pink; stamens 20 to 30; calyx turbinate to campanulate

Fruit:

drupe red to black, 8 to 12 mm

Leaves:

deciduous; alternate; blade 20 to 65 mm, rounded to acute, crenulate to serrate

Plant:

more shrub-like than tree-like, mostly several stemmed; 1 to 4 meters tall; glabrous to heavily pubescent. Traditionally the fruits were eaten fresh or dried for future use by the Coeur d'Alene, Thompson, and Shuswap. The bark was used in basketry by the Okanagon, Shuswap, and Thompson.

Habitat:

Distribution of species:

inland and east Cascades, British Columbia to Oregon, and south and east, also in the Olympic Mountains

Distribution of genus:

more or less 400 species: temperate North America, Eurasia, north Africa