Prunus insititiaL.
P. domestica subsp. insititia (L.) Bonnier & Layens, Druparia insititia Clairv.
Eng.: Damson plum, Eurasian wild plum. Spa.: Ciruelo silvestre, escambrón. Fre.: Prunier sauvage. Ara.: Berkuk barkuk, berquq el maïz, aïn al-bakar, zuitni, aïn huchen, aïn qiracya. Tam.: Tiberquiquest, taberkikecht, techt, abequq buchechim, abequq-n-tirhten.
Shrub or small tree, deciduous, hermaphrodite, up to 6(10) m in height, with branches sometimes slightly thorny. Trunk usually well defined, slightly tortuous, with brown-greyish bark, fissured longitudinally in older specimens. Branches brown-greyish, glabrous; younger branches reddish-brown and slightly hairy. Leaves (3-8 × 1.5-5 cm) alternate, obovate or obovate-oblong, obtuse or acute, cuneiform at the base, finely crenate or serrated margin, similar in shape and texture to P. spinosa, but larger. Flowers solitary or geminate, rarely ternate, 2-4 cm in diameter, on villous pedicel, short (0.7-2 cm). Calyx with 5 sepals, oval-triangular, about 3-4 mm, green. Corolla with 5 petals, oval-oblong, sometimes suborbicular, obtuse, 6-10(15) mm long. Stamens numerous (15-25) with white filaments and yellow anthers, rarely red. Fruit a drupe similar to that of P. spinosa but larger (15-50 mm), pendant, ellipsoid, glabrous, intense black, bright, but covered with a blueish-white waxy thin layer that is easily removed with touch. Seed 1, subglobose, slightly compressed, rugose.
Flowering:
February to April.
Fruiting:
July to September.
Habitat:
Cool and humid mountain forests. In subhumid to humid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region, central and eastern Europe and western Asia. In North Africa it is a rare species, which has been cited numerous times erroneously by confusing it with P. spinosa. It grows in the northern forests of the Middle Atlas (Morocco), in the central-eastern Tellian Atlas and the Aures Massif (Algeria) and in NE Tunisia.
Conservation status:
Common and widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
