자두나무-[정명] Prunus salicina Lindl.

Prunus salicina (syn. Prunus triflora or Prunus thibetica), commonly called the Japanese plum or Chinese plum, is a small deciduous tree native to China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It is an introduced species in Korea, Japan, the United States, and Australia.

Prunus salicina should not be confused with Prunus mume, a related species also commonly called Chinese plum or Japanese plum. Prunus japonica is also another tree that is a separate species despite having a Latin name similar to Prunus salicina's common name.

Names

Some names for this plant, in addition to Japanese or Chinese plum, are Willow-leaf cherry, Asian Plum, in English, Ameixa or Ameixa-japonesa in Portuguese, 李 lǐ in Mandarin and Japanskt plommon in Swedish.

The Latin genus name Prunus derives from the Ancient Greek προύνη (proúnē), meaning plum. The specific epithet, salicina, is derived from the Latin word for willow, since the leaves of Prunus salicina have a narrow, lanceolate, and taper-pointed shape, which is similar to the leaves of some willow species.

Description

Prunus salicina grows up to 9–12 metres (30–39 ft) tall, and its branches are purplish brown to reddish brown and its lateral shoots are yellowish red.

The leaves are 6–12 cm long and 2.5–5 cm broad, with scalloped margins, which when young is often mixed with simple gland-tipped teeth. The leaves' shape tend to be oblong, though it sometimes varies slightly more obovate (broader above the middle), narrowly elliptic, or in rare cases being slightly ovate (broader half below the middle). The base of the leaf is wedge-shaped, and its apex ranges from acute (pointed) to caudate (having a slender short tail). The upper side of the leaf is dark green and lustrous, and have 6 or 7 secondary veins on either side of midvein, not extending to leaf margin.

The winter buds of the Prunus salicina are purplish red, and are occasionally hairy at scale margins, though this is rare. The flowers are produced in early spring, around April, each about 2 cm in diameter with five white petals, and come in groups of 3. The pedicel is 1–1.5 cm, and its sepals are oblong-ovate and about 5mm, hairless on the outside, with loosely serrated margins. The sepal's apex is acute to obtuse. The petals of the flower are white, oblong-obovate, with a wedge-shaped base and a jagged margin near the apex. The ovary is hairless and the stigma disc-shaped.

The fruit is a drupe, 4–7 cm in diameter with yellow-pink flesh. The skin can be yellow, red, or sometimes green or purple, and has a powdery coating. The shape of the drupe is spherical, egg-shaped, or conical, and it is 3.5–5 cm in diameter, though it can reach 7 cm in diameter in horticultural forms. They fruit from July to August. When fully ripe it can be eaten raw.[6] In comparison to the Prunus domestica, the Prunus salicina, fruit has a higher flavor and aroma, better texture, more color, bigger size, and good nutritional values.

The pit of the Prunus salicina is ovoid (egg-shaped) to oblong, and wrinkled.

Prunus salicina - Wikipedia