Prunus angustifolia [Chickasaw Plum]

[dancingcat]

Frary, S.C. (2023) Prunus angustifolia Marshall  (Rosaceae) Chickasaw Plum.  Photographed in ultraviolet and visible light. 

 

Collected: 14 March 2023, Kachina Prairie, Ennis, Ellis Co., Texas, USA.  Voucher deposited at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas Herbarium (BRIT), Fort Worth Botanic Garden, S. C. Frary [167].

 

Other Common Names:  Sandhill Plum, Narrow-leaf Plum

 

Comment:  Kachina Prairie is one of the last remnant native tall grass prairies in North Texas.  This species of plum is rare in the wild, so the several plants along the edges of the prairie woods might be volunteers or deliberately planted here.  However this land has never been plowed or developed, so they may be truly wild.  This is a “leggy” shrub, not a tree, between 3-4 feet high, growing in partly shaded understory of Ulmus and Celtis in well-watered blackland prairie soil. It forms thickets and makes good cover for birds and small animals. The defining characteristic for this species is small sharp glands on the tip of the leaf teeth (very small, needed a hand lens).  In the UV photograph, what I suppose are the glands appear UV bright on the leaf edges.

 

References:  Texas A&M Horticulture Native Shrubs, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Database

Equipment [Olympus EM1mk2-broadband + various M.Zuiko lenses]

 

Visible Light – in situ [Olympus M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 with KolariVision HotCut Mirror 2 filter, ISO 200, f/8, 1/60 sec.]

 

Visible Light [OM M.Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 macro with KolariVision HotCut Mirror 2 filter, ISO 500, f/11, 0.6 sec., 15-image in-camera stack.]

 

Ultraviolet Light [Olympus M.Zuiko 30mm f/3.5 macro with Baader U filter, ISO 800, f/11, 20 sec., painted with Convoy S2 flashlight, single image rendered in black and white.]

 

[colinbm]

Nicely shot.

[Andy Perrin]

Gorgeous. The UV really brings out the details.

[Nate]

UV brings out the detail in the petals, great capture!

[Andrea B.]

Who says documentary photos can't be artistic! Beautiful work on the last two.

[dancingcat]

gaah i have to remember to downsize my images sry all - i was lucky to get a chickasaw plum actually in bloom - flowers were gone when i came back a couple of days later

[Andrea B.]

If you see it, shoot it NOW.  

The rabbits will have eaten it by the time you return. Or all the flowers will have fallen off. Or the mowers have been clearing the roadsides.