Prunus pumila L.

vernacular sandcherry — species · Rosaceae

USDA: PRPU3
GBIF: 3021605
Rank: species

sandcherry (Prunus pumila) — Platephotograph · Joe WalewskiCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
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: Low
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Low
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 125 min.
Precipitation: 15–50 in/yr
pH range: 5.9–7
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 6 ft
Height @ 20 y: 6 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 2,920
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: Yes
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 1 N ▾

Golden Valley 30037

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/PRPU3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3021605 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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