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Prunus jacquemontii Hook. f.

Afghan Cherry

Modern name

Prunus jacquemontii Hook.f.

Synonyms

Amygdalus humilis Edgew.; Cerasus jacquemontii (Hook, f.) Buser

A deciduous bush up to 12 ft high, with glabrous, slender, grey branchlets. Leaves ovate to obovate, pointed at both ends, up to 212 in. long, by 1 in. wide, glabrous, sharply and regularly toothed; stalk 14 in. long. The leaves on the flowering spurs are shorter and narrower than on the extension growths. Flowers one to three at each joint, very short-stalked, bright rosy pink, 13 to 12 in. in diameter; calyx funnel-shaped, 15 in. long, with short, pointed lobes. Fruits roundish, 58 in. long, red, juicy, containing a roundish stone 14 in. or rather more long. Bot. Mag., t. 6976.

Native of the N.W. Himalaya, W. Pakistan, and Afghanistan; introduced in 1879 by Dr Aitchison from the Kurram Valley, where it occurs at altitudes of about 6,000 ft. It has been confused with P. humilis, under the notice of which the distinctions have been pointed out. P. jacquemontii is a pretty cherry, perfectly hardy, and makes shoots over 1 ft long during a season, which are well furnished with flowers towards the end of the following April. Propagated by layers. There used to be bushes at Kew 12 ft high and 12 ft through. It needs a dry sunny position.

P. bifrons Fritsch P. jacquemontii var. bifrons (Fritsch) Ingram; P.prostrata var. bifrons (Fritsch) Schneid.; P. afghana Cardot; P. erythrocarpa (Nevski) Gilli; Cerasus erythrocarpa Nevski; C. bifrons (Fritsch) Poyark. – A shrub up to 6 ft high, sometimes prostrate, allied to P. jacquemontii but with the young growths downy and the leaves clad beneath with a white tomentum. The style is hairy at the base (usually glabrous in P. jacquemontii). Native of Afghanistan, the N.W. Himalaya, and Central Asia; introduced by the late George Sherriff from Kashmir in 1940. The specific epithet refers to the dimorphic leaves, those on the short, flowering shoots being shorter and narrower than on the long shoots, though the same characteristic is shown by P. jacquemontii. It needs the same conditions as that species.


Genus

Prunus

Other species in the genus