This small deciduous species of cherry tree is native to British Columbia. It is found from BC south to California and east to Montana, Wyoming and Arizona.

General:
Shrub or small tree, 2-15 m tall, sometimes thicket-forming, smooth to densely hairy throughout; bark reddish-brown or grey, with horizontal lenticels.

Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, elliptic to egg-shaped or lanceolate, 3-8 cm long, finely round-toothed, rounded or blunt to sometimes sharp-pointed at the tip, wedge-shaped to pointed at the base, densely hairy (at least below) to smooth; leaf stalks 5-12 mm long, usually lacking small glands at the top.

Flowers:
Inflorescences short, rounded to flat-topped clusters, at the ends of short spur-shoots, of 3 to 10 stalked flowers; corollas white, saucer-shaped, the petals 5, egg-shaped, 5-7 mm long, often hairy on the lower surface; calyces smooth to coarse-hairy, 5-lobed, the oblong lobes about 2 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens about 20.

Fruits:
Fleshy drupes with a large ellipsoid stone (cherries), egg- to globe-shaped, 8-12 mm long, bright red to purple; seeds 1.

Notes:
The more typical tree-like plants from coastal areas have been given the varietal name mollis (Dougl.) Brew.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
White

Blooming Period:
Mid Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall

Source:  The USDA