FNPS Plant Database
Prunus caroliniana
Nomenclature
Common Name:
Synonym(s):
Genus species:
Family:
Rosaceae
Plant Specifics
Form:
Size:
Life Span:
Long-lived perennial
Flower Color:
Fruit Color:
Phenology:
Noted For:
Landscaping
Recommended Uses:
Considerations:
This plant can be too prolific as the many seedlings that come up both around the plant and under bird perching sites can become problematic. Also spreads by underground stems.
Weak, prone to wind damage.
Availability:
Propagation:
Light:
Moisture Tolerance:
Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry
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Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Somewhat long very dry periods
Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:
Unknown
Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:
Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray
Soil or Other Substrate:
Sand, Loam
Soil pH:
Suitable to Grow In:
8A,8B,9A,9B
USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.

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Ecology
Wildlife:
Attracts bees.
Seed is spread by birds.
Native Habitats:
Natural Range in Florida:
Visit the USF Libraries Atlas of Florida Plants
Comments:
Ethnobotany:
General Comments:
The range extends from Texas to North Carolina mostly in the coastal plan and adjacent areas of sandy hills. In Florida, the range is continuous down to central Florida and then peters out, a pattern that largely corresponds to climate (temperature patterns).
This species should grow well from the central peninsula northward.
Citations:
https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/430/430-031/430-031_pdf.pdf (salt spray tolerance)
Deyrup, Mark; Jayanthi Edirisinghe, and Beth Norden. 2002. The diversity and floral hosts of bees at the Archbold Biological Station, Florida (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Insecta Mundi. 544.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/544
Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell. 1999. Native Florida Plants. Gulf Publishing Company. Houston, TX.
Huegel, Craig, N. 2010. Native plant landscaping for Florida wildlife. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. (wildlife uses)
Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native plants. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Watkins, John and Thomas Sheehan. 1975. Florida Landscapt Plants, Native and Exotic. University Presses of Florida, Gainesville. (light, soil, salt)
Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.
