Prunus caroliniana, known as the Carolina laurelcherry, Carolina cherry laurel, Carolina cherry, or Cherry laurel, is a small evergreen flowering tree native to the lowlands of Southeastern United States, from North Carolina south to Florida and westward to central Texas.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map The species also has escaped into the wild in a few places in California.Calflora taxon report, University of California, Prunus caroliniana Ait. Carolina laurelcherry Prunus caroliniana is not to be confused with its European relative, Prunus laurocerasus, which also is called Cherry Laurel, although mainly known as English Laurel in the U.S.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Prunus caroliniana has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens10
Marker genes5
eDNA detections7
Countries1
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcL★ITS★ITS2trnH-psbA
plant barcodefungal barcodemarker
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualPrunus caroliniana carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 64 n = 32
Ploidypolyploid inferred
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin39.3 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type8 389 records
Wild obs. + sensor7 613
Museum / vouchered759
Other17
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO14 736 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy92% within 1 km
≤100 m 5 321≤1 km 572≤10 km 186>10 km 356
6 435 georeferenced · 1 178 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor7 613
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy49% within 1 km
≤100 m 64≤1 km 85≤10 km 94>10 km 59
302 georeferenced · 457 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence759
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions58 of 89 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Tampa, US
89
Chapel Hill, US
56
Fort Worth, US
41
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
41
Bronx, US
38
Bangkok, TH
38
Jackson, US
35
BAYLUlocation not on record
25
Tuscaloosa, US
24
US
23
Austin, US
21
Columbia, US
21
GAlocation not on record
19
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
16
Miami, US
14
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
13
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
13
Santa Barbara, US
13
Saint Louis, US
11
Riverside, US
11
AUAlocation not on record
10
EL PASO, US
9
Bloomington, US
7
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
7
Little Rock, US
7
Fayetteville, US
6
Valdosta State Universitylocation not on record
6
University of North Carolina at Pembrokelocation not on record
6
DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record
5
Mississippi State, US
5
Norfolk, US
4
Clemson, US
4
Wuzhou, CN
4
Northridge, US
4
Millersville, US
4
Claremont, US
4
Philadelphia, US
3
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
3
China Agricultural Universitylocation not on record
3
Dekalb, US
3
US
3
Davis, US
3
North Carolina Museum of Natural Scienceslocation not on record
3
Phoenix, US
3
Flagstaff, US
3
University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record
3
College Park, US
3
Denton, US
2
Knoxville, US
2
Tall Timbers Research Stationlocation not on record
2
Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record
2
Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record
2
Lincoln, US
2
ASUlocation not on record
2
Wlocation not on record
2
San Jose, US
2
Los Angeles, US
2
Philadelphia, US
2
Edmonton, CA
2
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
2
Auckland, NZ
2
Provo, US
2
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preservelocation not on record
2
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
2
Burlington, US
2
Kew, GB
1
Russellville, US
1
PHlocation not on record
1
Audubon Society -- Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuarylocation not on record
1
Mérida, MX
1
Cambridge, US
1
Durham, US
1
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
1
Lubbock, US
1
Denver, US
1
University of Tennessee at Chattanoogalocation not on record
1
Uniwersytet Jagiellońskilocation not on record
1
Fairfax, US
1
Williamsburg, US
1
Davenport, US
1
Emporia, US
1
Taipei, TW
1
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
1
Institut und Museum fuer Geologie und Palaeontologielocation not on record
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Irvine, US
1
James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studieslocation not on record
1
Boise, US
1
Canberra, AU
1
89 institutions · 747 of 759 vouchered records shown · 12 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA7 detections
Where the DNA of Prunus caroliniana was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found7
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 7 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median13.6 °C 13.6–13.6
Seasonal swing summer↔winter26.3 °C
Max temp (day)19.5 °C
Min temp (night)8.70 °C
Precipitation114 mm/mo
Air humidity54.5 %
Moisture balance0.9 mm/mo
Vapour deficit709 Pa
Wind speed4.00 m/s
Cloud cover44.5 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility8 389 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI7 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics10 specimens↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗