Hello all, I found this growing in the wild but close to the nearby houses. Probably, with the help of birds. I am guessing this is Prunus. Does not look like any native. Is it possible to narrow it down? The finely crenated leaf edge, rounded leaf tip, rounded, slightly reflexed sepals, waxy bark - could probably tell something.
Sorry, no reply here, but I'm surprised others haven't ID'd this. Maybe if we had a photo of the tree (shrub?) it would help a little.
Hi Wendy, there was no good shot of the entire tree, which was squeezed among other trees and shrubs at the side of a small creek. This is the most wide shot available:
These are inflorescences, so it's not supposed to be a plum. What about Prunus mahaleb, which is not a cherry I know. I don't see anything saying the bark is supposed to look like what your photos show, but the flowers and inflorescence configuration and leaf shape I'm seeing look similar to what you're showing.
Thank you Wendy! I think you've got it. Most features match perfectly. Many pictures show some cute acute leaf tips, not seen here, but others don't. On some photos like this (https://www.flickr.com/photos/12639178@N07/2444614445) the bark shows flaking wax. Although, it was not listed for our area in the old (40-year old) books, it is listed now by USDA. As an additional support, I found a photo on Flickr, that discusses recent intro of this species into local flora: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyfrates/6366510257
Yes, the leaf shape is distinctive for P. mahaleb. I suspect ones seen here often came to the site as a rootstock beneath a scion that eventually died.
