Prunus pauciflora — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit, Seeds

Where to Find It

Temperate.

Asia, China,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree that loses its leaves. Probably now Prunus pseudocerasus Lindl.;

Medicinal Uses

In China it has been cultivated for its edible (if tart) fruit for around 2000 years. In Japan it is favored as an ornamental tree for its tendency to bloom, flowers before leaves, earlier than the Japanese cherry Prunus serrulata. A tetraploid with 2n=32 chromosomes, it is used as rootstock for other flowering cherries. It is the parent of a number of hybrid cultivars. It is resistant to the fungal disease cherry leaf spot. P. pseudocerasus is near extinction in the wild due to anthropogenic activities.

Notes

There are about 200 Prunus species. The name is ambiguous.

References (2)

Enum. pl. China bor. 23. 1833 (Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Petersbourg Divers Savans 2:97. 1835)
Plants for a Future, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/

What to Eat

Where to Find It

How to Identify

Medicinal Uses

Notes

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