Family |
Rosaceae
Prunus prostrata
Labill.
Prunus prostrata Labill.
≡ Cerasus prostrata (Labill.) Ser. in DC.
(First published in Icon. Pl. Syr. 1: 15, 1791; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 200; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Low, much-branched shrub from the base, with prostrate or tortuous branches, sometimes slightly ascending, 20–80 cm tall.
• Leaves: Ovate to orbicular, strongly dentate at the margin, green above, canescent-tomentose beneath, 5–10 mm long.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers sessile. Calyx with a long tubular base (3–10 mm), reddish, lobes short. Corolla slightly longer than calyx, pink.
• Fruits: Drupe ovoid-globose, fleshy, 5–6 mm, red, edible though small, sour but refreshing, often consumed by shepherds and hikers.
• Phenology: Flowers April–May; fruits during summer.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky places, mainly above 1600 m, descending locally to 1200 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Jisr-el-Hajar, Hasroun, Les Cèdres, Jabal Barouk, above Ma‘asser, Cèdres de Barouk, ‘Aïn Zehalta, Col de Zahlé, Forêt d’Ehden, Jabal Sannine, Haut-Makmel, Col des Cèdres, Hermon, and ‘Aïnata to ‘Aïn Hazir.
• Syrian distribution: Anti-Lebanon (above Bloudane, Jabal Abou-l-Haoua, Jabal Halimé).
• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Corsica, East Aegean Islands, France, Greece, Iraq, Crete, Lebanon–Syria, Morocco, NW Balkan Peninsula, Sardinia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey (POWO).