Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Oemleria cerasiformis
oso-berry, Indian plum
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest and east in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California.

Habitat: Moist to dry, open forest, forest edge, and stream bank thickets at low elevation.

Flowers: February-April

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bees, flies

Description:
General:

Deciduous shrub, 1.5-3 m. tall, with purplish-brown bark.

Leaves:

Leaves alternate, short-petioled, the blades narrowly oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, 5-12 cm. long and up to 4 cm. wide, glabrous and light green above, slightly paler below.

Flowers:

Flowers imperfect, in pendant, axillary, bracteate racemes; flowers greenish-white, blossoming as the leaves develop; calyx 6-7 mm. long, the 5 lobes equaling the tube; petals 5, 5-6 mm. long, white, elliptic-obovate, ascending; stamens 15, in 3 series in the tubular portion of the calyx in the staminate flowers; pistils 5, the styles included in the calyx tube in the pistillate flowers.

Fruits:

Drupes 8-10 mm. long, 1-seeded, ovoid, bluish-black

Accepted Name:
Oemleria cerasiformis (Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.) J.W. Landon
Publication: Taxon 24(1): 200. 1975.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Exochorda davidiana Baill.
Nuttallia cerasiformis Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.
Nuttallia davidiana Baill.
Oemleria cerasiformis var. lancifolia Greene
Oemleria cerasiformis var. nigra Greene
Osmaronia cerasiformis (Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.) Greene
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Oemleria cerasiformis in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Oemleria cerasiformis checklist entry

OregonFlora: Oemleria cerasiformis information

E-Flora BC: Oemleria cerasiformis atlas page

CalPhotos: Oemleria cerasiformis photos

55 photographs:
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