Hollyleaf cherry, islay

Cerasus ilicifolia Nuttall ex Hooker & Arnott, Bot. Beechey Voy., 340. 1839

Shrubs or trees, sometimes suckering, 10–150 dm, not thorny. Twigs with terminal end buds, glabrous. Leaves persistent; petiole 3–25 mm, glabrous, eglandular; blade oblong-ovate to ovate-lanceolate or ovate to suborbiculate, 1.6–12 × 1.2–5(–7) cm, base usually broadly rounded to subcordate, sometimes obtuse, margins spinose-dentate to spinose-serrulate or entire, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, callus-tipped, sometimes glandular at leaf base, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous, ˂abaxial eglandular, if glands present, restricted to margins˃. Inflorescences 15–40-flowered, racemes; central axes 30–80 mm, ˂leafless at bases˃. Pedicels 1–5 mm, glabrous. Flowers blooming before leaf emergence; hypanthium cupulate, 2–3 mm, glabrous externally; sepals erect to spreading, triangular, 0.7–1.2 mm, margins entire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely with scattered hairs; petals white to yellowish, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, 1–3 mm; ovaries glabrous. Drupes dark red to purple or blue-black, obovoid or ellipsoid to globose, 12–25 mm, glabrous; mesocarps leathery; stones subglobose to ellipsoid, ± flattened.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): California, nw Mexico.

Lower Taxa

• Prunus ilicifolia var. ilicifolia
• Prunus ilicifolia var. occidentalis Brandegee