Index / Search / Prunus emarginata

§1 Plant

Prunus emarginata (Douglas ex Hook.) D. Dietr.

vernacular bitter cherry — species · Rosaceae


USDA
PREM
GBIF
7272137
Rank
species
bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata)
Platephotograph · Bob HansenCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Rosaceae Juss.
Genus
Prunus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state
Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
High
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-23 °F minimum
Frost-free days
130 min.
Precipitation
16–32 in/yr
pH range
6.2–7.8
Root depth
20 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Thicket Forming
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
80 ft
Height @ 20 y
25 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Red
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
7,020
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
Medium
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PREM ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/7272137 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z