Amur Cherry - Prunus maackii Rupr.
Also commonly called Amur chokecherry, Manchurian Cherry (1)
Rose Family: Rosaceae   USDA hardiness zones: 2B through 6.

 


Figure 1. Single Trunk Specimen, outstanding copper colored exfoliating bark

 

Amur Chokecherry is pyramidal when young but ultimately forms a 30 to 40-foot-tall tree with a dense, rounded canopy which provides light shade below. The deciduous leaves are three inches long and are joined in early to mid-May by an explosion of white, fragrant flowers in two to three-inch-long racemes. The multitude of tiny black fruits which follow ripen in August and are quite attractive to birds. The bark is occasionally handsome cinnamon brown peeling off in shaggy masses on the trunk, but more often is an attractive brown with minimum exfoliation. This tree has some of the most attractive bark on any tree in North America. (1)

Uses: Bonsai; container or above-ground planter; recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway; near a deck or patio; specimen; residential street tree; no proven urban tolerance.

Height: 30 to 40 feet
Spread: 25 to 35 feet
Crown uniformity: symmetrical canopy with a regular (or smooth) outline, and individuals have more or less identical crown forms.
Growth rate: medium


Trunk/bark/branches: routinely grown with, or trainable to be grown with, multiple trunks; grow mostly upright and will not droop; tree wants to grow with several trunks but can be trained to grow with a single trunk (Fig. 1); very showy trunk; no thorns. Needs little pruning to develop a strong structure

Drought tolerance: high, Aerosol salt tolerance: moderate.
Prune to open up the canopy to develop more of a tree-form, otherwise it looks like a large shrub. Remove interior branches and space main branches along the trunk. A more upright shape can be created by removing lateral branches, a more spreading shape can be promoted by removing upright branches. Use the tree along an entrance road to a commercial development planted on 20 to 25-foot centers or along side the patio or deck in the back yard.

Amur Chokecherry should be grown in full sun on well-drained soil, and performs well only in the north. The trees should be located where the roots can remain moist, but not wet, as drought tolerance is not characteristic. Propagation is by softwood cuttings from June to July, or by seed.

This tree is susceptible to infection by leaf spot. (1)


Fig. 2. Bronze/orange exfoliating bark
 

Leaf arrangement: alternate, simple, serrate, elliptic (oval); ovate. Leaf venation: banchidodrome; pinnate.
Leaf blade length: 2 to 4 inches
Fall color: yellow
Flower color: white; pleasant fragrance; showy; spring flowering (1)

Fruit shape: round
Fruit length: < .5 inch
Fruit covering: fleshy
Fruit color: black
Fruit characteristics: attracts birds; inconspicuous and not showy; fruit, twigs, or foliage cause significant litter problems. (1)

Kingdom

Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom

Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision

Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division

Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class

Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons

Subclass

Rosidae

Order

Rosales

Family

Rosaceae – Rose family

Genus

Prunus L. – plum

Species

Prunus maackii Rupr. – Amur chokecherry              (1)

 

Common names:

 

Native:

  • ASIA-TEMPERATE
    Soviet Far East: Russian Federation - Amur, Primorye
    China: China - Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning
    Eastern Asia: Korea (3)

Synonyms:


Figure 4. Amur Cherry

Check other databases for Prunus maackii :

  • Flora of China: Online version from Harvard University
  • W³TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
  • ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
  • Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.
    Note: Defaults to a search by genus or species epithet if species binomial not found.
 

 

Dolgo Crabapple Selkirk Crabapple - Malus 'Sekirk' Pink Spires Crabapple - Malus 'Pink Spires' Purple Prince Crabapple - Malus 'Purple Prince' Mary Potter Crabapple - Malus 'Mary Potter' American Masterpiece™ Crabapple - Malus 'Amaszam' Klehm Prairie Crabapple - Malus ioensis 'Klehmii' Christmas Holly Crabapple - Malus 'Chrishozam' Dusky Pear - Pyrus phaeocarpa
              
 
       web       www.cirrusimage.com

[Cirrus Home]  [Tree Encyclopedia] [Trees Alphabetic Table of Contents]

© Cirrus Digital / All Rights Reserved