Oemleria

Oemleria
Temporal range: Eocene - recent[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Amygdaloideae
Tribe: Exochordeae
Genus: Oemleria
Rchb.
Species:
O. cerasiformis
Binomial name
Oemleria cerasiformis
Synonyms[3][4][5]
  • Nuttallia cerasiformis Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.
  • Osmaronia cerasiformis (Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook. & Arn.) Greene

Oemleria cerasiformis, a shrub commonly known as osoberry[6] or Indian plum,[7] is the sole extant species in genus Oemleria.

Native to the Pacific coast and ranges of North America, from British Columbia, Canada to Santa Barbara County, California, U.S.A.,[7] it is among the first plants to leaf out and flowers early in the spring. It reaches a height of 1.5–5 m and has lance-shaped leaves 5–12 cm long.

The fruits of osoberry are edible and resemble small plums which are dark blue when ripe.[8] Indigenous peoples of the Americas include osoberry in their diets, make tea of the bark, and chew its twigs to use as a mild anesthetic and aphrodisiac.[9]

One other fossil species is known from the genus: Oemleria janhartfordae from the Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation.[10]

  1. ^ "Rosales". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  2. ^ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group; Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (2020). "Oemleria cerasiformis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T156821753A156821755. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T156821753A156821755.en. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  3. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
  4. ^ "The International Plant Names Index entry for Nuttallia Torr. & A.Gray ex Hook. & Arn".
  5. ^ "The International Plant Names Index entry for Osmaronia Greene".
  6. ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  7. ^ a b "USDA PLANTS Profile: Oemleria cerasiformis".
  8. ^ Turner, Nancy J. (1995). Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. UBC Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780774805339.
  9. ^ Pojar, Jim; Andy MacKinnon (2004). Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Lone Pine Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-55105-530-5.
  10. ^ Benedict, John C.; DeVore, Melanie L.; Pigg, Kathleen B. (May 2011). "Prunus and Oemleria (Rosaceae) Flowers from the Late Early Eocene Republic Flora of Northeastern Washington State, U.S.A." International Journal of Plant Sciences. 172 (7): 948–958. doi:10.1086/660880. ISSN 1058-5893.