Oemleria cerasiformis

Oemleria cerasiformis
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
Species:
O. cerasiformis
Binomial name
Oemleria cerasiformis
Synonyms[3][4][5]
Oemleria synonymy
  • 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] Squaw plum,[7] or Indian plum,[8] is the sole extant species in genus Oemleria. The species is native to the Pacific coast and coast ranges of North America, from British Columbia, Canada to Santa Barbara County, California, U.S.A.,[8] it is among the first plants to leaf out and flowers early in the spring. It reaches a height of 1.5–5 m (4.9–16.4 ft) and has lance-shaped leaves 5–12 cm (2.0–4.7 in) long. The fruits of osoberry are edible and resemble small plums which are dark blue when ripe.[9] 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.[10] One other fossil species is known from the genus, Oemleria janhartfordae from the Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation.[11]

  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. ^ Gunther, Erna (1973). Ethnobotany of Western Washington (Revised ed.). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-295-95258-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. ^ a b "USDA PLANTS Profile: Oemleria cerasiformis".
  9. ^ Turner, Nancy J. (1995). Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. UBC Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780774805339.
  10. ^ Pojar, Jim; Andy MacKinnon (2004). Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Lone Pine Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-55105-530-5.
  11. ^ 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.