Rosaceae

P. divaricata Ledeb., Ind. Sem. Horti Dorp. 6 (1824). Syn: P. monticola C. Koch in Ind. Sem. Hort. Berol. 1854, app. 15 (1854); P. cerasifera Ehrh, subsp. divaricata (Ledeb.) Schneider, I11. Handb. Laubh. 1:632 (1906). Ic: Vassilczenko in Not. Syst. (Leningrad) 19:227 (1959). Map 4, p. 7.
Shrub or small tree up to 10 m, unarmed or spinescent. Leaves 4-6(-10) x 2-4(-6) cm, ovate-elliptic to obovate, finely crenate-serrate, glabrous above, glabrous to villous beneath. Petioles to 2 cm, eglandular. Flowers white, appearing before the leaves, up to 2.5 cm diam.: pedicels up to 2 cm; sepals in mature flowers revolute. Drupes pendant, globose to ovoid-oblong, 15-30 mm diam., yellow or red to violet; stone smooth or scabrous. Fl. 4-5. Open woodland, steep slopes and among rocks, s. 1.-2450 m.
1. Twigs glabrous; leaves glabrous or pubescent on underside of midrib subsp. divaricata
1. Twigs and underside of leaves villous subsp. ursina
subsp. ursina (Kotschy) Browicz, comb, et stat. nov. Syn: P. ursina Kotschy in Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 14:435 (1864); Prunus ınonticola C. Koch var. pııbescens Náb. in Publ. Fac. Sci. Univ. Masaryk Brno 35:107 (1923) !
Type: [Lebanon] in montibus Antilibana, copiosa in devexis montis Hermon versus Hesbaja, Kotschy 40 (iso. BM!).
E. & S. Anatolia. A8 Erzurum: Kop Da., between Aşkale and Bayburt, 2000-2450 m, Rech. 32892 ! B9 Van: E. side of Pelli Da. pass, 38 km from Gevaş to Tatvan, 2240 m, D. 46078 ! Bitlis: Nemrut Da., 2300 m, D. 23503 ! C6 Hatay: Dere Bahçe, below Belen, c. 320 m, Samuelsson 4005! C9 Hakkari: Koçanis, d. Cölemerik, 1900-2000 m, Nábelek 1846a ! C10 Hakkari: 8 km from Şemdinli to Yüksekova. 1700 m, D. 44967 ! W. Syria. A very variable and taxonomically difficult species requiring much further study (for a fuller treatment of infraspecific taxa see Kovalev in Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. URSS 23. 3:285-291, 1939). Subsp. divaricata is and has long been cultivated for its edible fruit (resembling the Damson) and is probably extensively naturalized. It is probably impossible, however, to distinguish with certainty between truly wild and naturalized populations in Turkey. P. alpestris Schischkin (in Ber. Tomskcr Staats-Univ. 80:472, 1929), described from B10 Ağri (d. Doğubayazit, Klyez -geduk, between Czelkany and Dutach, 24 v 1916, Schischkin; Ağri Da., Achty pass, 11 viii 1916, Supozhnikov & Schischkin) appears from the type description to be no more than a form of P. divaricata with small, glabrous leaves.