help ID this bloom (pic)

[Ben Brewcat]

Hey gang,

This multi-trunked, low-growing shrub is cherry-like and I suspect it's a kind of cherry. It has reddish to grey bark, occasional thorns, and has bloomed well before it has formed any leaves. Here's a not-great pic of a blossom:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Brewcat/4-16-07cherry002.jpg

It grows alongside other, very similar shrubs that are just now opening blooms but alongside and slightly after leaves have broken out. They are distinct species for sure.

Whaddaya think? Cherry, plum? We're in zone 5, Rocky mountain foothills at 5300 ft in Colorado.

[prisoner#1]

looks like my plums, my cherry blossoms are a little more sparse

[Morris]

The cherry trees here have a pink blossom.

[ScadsOBees]

Looks somewhat like my european plum tree blossoms. Very similar to the sour cherry too, but the cherry has more full blossoms.

You'll have to check back with the leaves and fruit when that occurs. There are so many variations.
Pin or choke cherry?

Rick

[Jesse]

It's not choke cherry

[dcross]

Can cherry or plum trees have thorns?

[Gary L]

If I were in Eastern Kansas I would say that it is a wild plum from the description of the bark, the thorns, plus the picture of the blossom. Check to see if it has fruit later. Good tasting wild plums were highly sought after when I was growing up there. Also I forgot to mention that they usually grow in thickets.

[Jesse]

wild plums have thorns - long ones!

[MarkR]

I was guessing apple or maybe peach. Might be plum though.

Mark

[paul mattox]

It looks like a pear tree blossom.

[Aspera]

I'm gonna go with some type of cherry, although it could be a plum. Definitely a member of the rose family.

[France]

They sure look like wild plum to me. . .
I can still remember them, as a kid back home. Bee catcher birds would nest in them and stick the bees on the long thorns, for later use.
They always grew in hedge-rows, never did see one - somewhere by it-self...

Regards,
France

[George Fergusson]

I'll go with plum of some sort. There are a lot of varieties. I've got a peach that looks something like that. Here's my plum:

http://www.sweettimeapiary.com/pics/Bees_On_Flowers/target4.html

Peach looks quite similar and they have what I'd call spines, as opposed to thorns.

[Ben Brewcat]

We for sure have plums here, though I've not noted which are which. I need to start putting plastic tags on plants to help my addled memory!

[BULLSEYE BILL]

I'd say sandplum if the bark has a little reddish tint. The flower looks exactly like the sandplums here. Save some of the fruit for brewing, whatever it is.