Prunus mugus is a prostrate, low-growing cherry shrub from high mountain thickets in Yunnan, China, and nearby Myanmar and Tibet, usually no more than 1 m tall. It is grown mainly as a curiosity or research plant, and it is hard to propagate from cuttings.
Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
How easy
Hard
Safety
Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA).
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
China (NW. Yunnan) to N. Myanmar
Climate
temperate
About
Prunus mugus (Chinese: 偃樱桃 "supine cherry") is a species of cherry found in Yunnan province of China and nearby areas of Myanmar and Tibet. A prostrate shrub 1 m tall, it prefers to grow in thickets in the krummholz zone on mountain slopes from 3200 to 3,700 m or even 4,075 m (13,400 ft) above sea level. Heinrich von Handel-Mazzetti, who discovered it, named the species after Pinus mugo, the dwarf mountain pine.
Uses
When cultivated at low altitude, Prunus mugus takes a taller, bushy growth form, with stiff, thick stems, and flowers that are "more curious than beautiful". P. mugus has been successfully tested as a dwarfing rootstock for sweet cherries but since propagating it from cuttings is very difficult it is not commercially viable.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Prunus mugus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.