Prunus alabamensis

Alabama cherry is a small or medium sized tree growing to heights of 20–40 feet (6.1–12.2 m)[4] and a diameter of about 6 inches (15 cm), scarcely exceeding 25–30 feet (7.6–9.1 m) in height.[7]

The immature bark is gray and smooth; mature bark is rough and becomes broken into plates that are dark-gray to black in color. Young shoots or twigs are green and pubescent,[4][7] often densely so, with rusty-brown hairs.[8]

Leaves are alternate; ovate to elliptic in shape; rounded or slightly narrowed at the base; usually obtuse, rounded, or emarginate at the apex, but sometimes short acuminate, abruptly acute, or acutish; 3–12.5 centimetres (1.2–4.9 in) in length and 2–6.5 centimetres (0.79–2.56 in) in width; with petioles that are 2–12 millimetres (0.079–0.472 in) long. Margins are bluntly serrated with appressed teeth that have glandular tips. The upperside of the leaf is dark green and the underside is a lighter green. The underside is uniformly but sparsely pubescent with rusty-colored hairs that are longer and more dense along the midrib but not conspicuous; axils of veins lack tufts of hair entirely; veinlets are prominent. The texture of leaves is leathery. In autumn, leaves turn a red or orange color.[4][7][8][9]

Flowers grow on elongated racemes from the axils of leaves that are 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) long. Flowers have 5 small, white petals, and the rachis, peduncles, and calyx are pubescent.[4][7] Flowering occurs from April to May.[8]

The fruit is a small reddish, dark purple, or black, globose drupe, about 10 millimetres (0.39 in) in diameter.[4][7][10] Fruiting occurs from June to August.[8]

Alabama cherry is sympatric with its close relative Prunus serotina, occurring wholly within its natural range and being similar but morphologically distinct from it. They are easily distinguished from each other by the differences of their leaves and inflorescences.[6][7] Alabama cherry is sometimes considered to be conspecific with P. serotina; that is, a variety or subspecies of P. serotina rather than its own species. Plants of the World Online[12] and Flora of North America,[8] as examples, classify it as Prunus serotina var. alabamensis (C. Mohr) Little, but local botanical authorities and most authors classify Alabama cherry as its own distinct species,[6] including the Alabama Herbarium Consortium, the University of West Alabama,[4] and Auburn University;[13] the Global Biodiversity Information Facility also lists Prunus alabamensis (C. Mohr) as being the accepted name for this plant.[14] Phylogenetic analyses have been done on Alabama cherry to determine if it is a genetically distinct species. A 2013 analysis found no clear genetic distinction between P. s. var. serotina from Alabama and P. alabamensis,[6][15] however a following study in 2017 determined that P. alabamensis and P. serotina are indeed modestly genetically differentiated and either frequently exchange genes with each other or do not exchange genes and have only recently diverged. The study also suggested that future research should investigate what underlying factors are maintaining the phenotypic distinctiveness between the two species.[6]