Prunus ilicifolia is an evergreen shrub[4] to tree, producing edible cherries, with shiny and spiny toothed leaves[4] similar in appearance to those of holly. This resemblance is the source of both the common name "holly-leaved cherry" and the scientific epithet "ilicifolia" (Ilex-leaved). It grows 2.4 to 9.1 metres (8 to 30 feet) tall, with thick, alternate leaves 2.5 to 5.1 centimetres (1 to 2 inches) in length.[4] It has small white flowers growing in clusters, similar in appearance to most members of the rose family, Rosaceae, flowering from March to May.[4] The flowers are terminal on small stalks, with the youngest at the cluster center. The purple to black fruit is sweet, with a very thin pulp around a large single stone (drupe).[4][10]
The plant is prized for cultivation, showy and easily grown from seed, and has been cultivated for centuries as a food source, and tolerates twice yearly pruning when often used as a hedge.[4] The plant likes full sun, loose open soil (porous), and tolerates drought conditions well, but needs regular watering when young.[4]
Despite its name, it is not a true cherry (P. subg. Cerasus) species. It is traditionally included in P. subg. Laurocerasus, but molecular research indicates it is nested with species of P. subg. Padus.[11]Ilicifolia or “ilex foliage,” means “holly-like leaves” in Latin[4]
Description
Prunus ilicifolia flowers
It is an evergreenshrub[4] or small tree approaching 15 metres (49 feet) in height,[12] with dense, hard leaves[4] (sclerophyllous foliage). The leaves are 1.6–12 centimetres (3⁄4–4+3⁄4 inches) long with a 4–25 millimetres (1⁄8–1 in) petiole[12] and spiny margins, somewhat resembling those of the holly. The leaves are dark green when mature and generally shiny on top, and have a smell resembling almonds when crushed; these are poisonous to eat, but not to handle.[13] The flowers are small (1–5 mm), white, produced on racemes in the spring. The fruit is a cherry 12–25 mm in diameter, sweet in taste, with little flesh surrounding the smooth seed.[12][14][15]
It is a persistent member of chaparral communities, being slow-growing but long-lived; common chaparral flora associates are toyon, western poison-oak and coffeeberry.[19] In the absence of fire, P. ilicifolia will outlive or outshade surrounding vegetation, making room for seedlings. Eventually, it will form extensive stands codominated by scrub oak.[5]
Although it will resprout from the stump after fires, the seeds are not fire-adapted like those of many other chaparral plants.[20] Instead, it relies on the natural death of surrounding vegetation during long periods of fire-free conditions to make room for its seedlings.[5]
Though the seeds are often reported to require sunlight to germinate,[20] germination rates of nearly 100% have been achieved with wild-collected seed buried completely in pots with a peatlite mix.[21]
The pulp of the cherry is edible.[4] However, the seeds of the hollyleaf cherry are considered to be toxic, and the plant must undergo certain leaching processes to make it safe for consumption.[24] Native Americans fermented the fruit into an intoxicating drink.[4] Some also cracked the dried cherries and made meal from the seeds after grinding and leaching them.[25] It has also been made into jam.[26]
The method of preparation for the cherry was to first extract and crush the kernel in a mortar, and the resulting powder would then be leached in order to eliminate remaining bad chemicals. The final step was to boil the leached powder into an atole.[24] Once this process was completed, Native Californians would then make soup base, tortillas, or tamale-like foods using the resulting ground meal. Other times, the kernel would be kept whole, leached to remove its hydrocyanic acid content, roasted for a couple hours, and then used to make cakes or balls.[27]
Aside from food, the hollyleaf cherry was also used for medicinal purposes by some Native Californian tribes, including the Diegueño and the Cahuilla. Specifically, infusions made from the bark and roots of hollyleaf cherry plants would be used as treatment for common colds and coughs.[27]
^E.G. Gudde (1946). The Solution of the Islay Problem. California Folklore Quarterly 5 (3): 298-299 (Gudde concludes that the word "islay" originated in a Salinan word slay; Islay was the Spanish version of their word).
^Munz, Philip A. 1973. A California flora and supplement. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press.
^Conrad, C. E. (1987). Common shrubs of chaparral and associated ecosystems of southern California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-99. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.
^ abKeeley, Jon E. 1987. Role of fire in seed germination of woody taxa in California chaparral. Ecology 68(2): 434-443; cited in FEIS
^Mirov, N. T., & Kraebel, C. J. (1937). Collecting and propagating the seeds of California wild plants. Research Note 18: 1-27. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, California Forest and Range Experiment Station
