Prunus africana

Prunus africana, the African cherry, has a wide distribution in Africa, occurring in montane regions of central and southern Africa and on the islands of Bioko, São-Tomé, Grande Comore, and Madagascar. It can be found at 900–3400 m above sea level. It is a canopy tree 30–40 m in height, and is the tallest member of Prunus. Large-diameter trees have impressive, spreading crowns. It requires a moist climate, 900–3400 mm annual rainfall, and is moderately frost-tolerant.Previewable Google Books.Previewable Google Books. P. africana appears to be a light-demanding, secondary-forest species. The bark is black to brown, corrugated or fissured, and scaly, fissuring in a characteristic rectangular pattern. The leaves are alternate, simple, 8-20 cm long, elliptical, bluntly or acutely pointed, glabrous, and dark green above, pale green below, with mildly serrated margins. A central vein is depressed on top, prominent on the bottom. The 2 cm petiole is pink or red. The flowers are androgynous, 10-20 stamens, insect-pollinated, 3–8 cm, greenish white or buff, and are distributed in 70 mm axillary racemes. The plant flowers October through May. The fruit is a drupe, red to brown, 7–13 mm, wider than long, two-lobed, with a seed in each lobe. It grows in bunches ripening September through November, several months after pollination.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.