Shrubs, suckering unknown, ˂much branched˃, 10–25 dm, weakly thorny. Twigs with axillary end buds, canescent. Leaves deciduous; petiole 0.5–3(–5) mm, hairy, eglandular; blade ovate, obovate, or spatulate, 0.5–2(–3) × 0.2–1(–2) cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins irregularly serrate, teeth usually sharp, eglandular, sometimes blunt, obscurely glandular, apex obtuse to rounded, often mucronate, surfaces hairy. Inflorescences solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles. Pedicels 0–3 mm, puberulent. Flowers ˂unisexual, plants dioecious˃, blooming at leaf emergence; hypanthium campanulate, 2–4 mm, hairy externally; sepals erect, triangular, 1–2 mm, margins entire, ˂sparsely ciliate˃, abaxial surface densely hairy, adaxial glabrous or slightly hairy; petals white, elliptic, rhombic, ovate, or suborbiculate, 2.5–6 mm, ˂abaxial surfaces hairy˃; ovaries hairy. Drupes yellowish orange, obovoid to ovoid, 9–16 mm, velutinous; mesocarps leathery to dry; stones subglobose to ovoid, slightly flattened.

Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting May–Jun. Desert washes, rocky slopes; of conservation concern; 900–1200 m; Calif.

Prunus eremophila is endemic to the southern Mojave Desert and has so far been collected only from the East Mojave Natural Preserve in eastern San Bernardino County.