The difference between cherry plum and purple leaf plum is leaf difference, flower difference, fruit difference and so on.

One, the leaf difference

Purple leaf plum's leaves are larger, wider, ovate or ovoid, darker in color, purple, with a certain luster. While the cherry plum's leaves are pear-shaped or long shield-shaped, the color is darker green, the leaf is characterized by more shiny, soft.

Second, the flower difference

Purple plum and cherry plum flowers are similar in appearance, but there are differences in color and flowering period. Purple leaf plum flowers are relatively small, usually bloom in the spring, the flower color is mostly peach or white, the flowering period is relatively short; while the cherry plum flowers are relatively large, and the flowering time is relatively late, mostly in the late spring to the early summer bloom, the flower color is mostly pure white or pink, relatively soft and bright.

Three, fruit difference

There are also many differences between the fruit of purple plum and cherry plum. The fruit of the purple plum is usually smaller, round or egg-shaped, between 1-1.5 cm in diameter, and purple-red when ripe; while the fruit of the cherry plum is larger than the purple plum, usually between 1-2 cm in diameter, spherical or oval, and red when ripe.

Morphological characteristics of cherry plum:

Shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters high; many branches, branches slender, spreading, dark gray, sometimes with spines; branchlets dark red, glabrous; winter buds ovoid, apex acute, with several imbricate scales, purplish-red, sometimes the edge of the scales are sparsely ciliate.

Leaf blade elliptic, ovate or obovate, very sparsely elliptic-lanceolate, (2)3-6 centimeters long, 2-4(6) centimeters wide, apex acute, base cuneate or subrounded, margin crenate, sometimes mixed with biserrate, dark green above, glabrous, midvein slightly sunken, lighter in color below, except for soft hairs or axils of veins along midvein. The rest of the plant is glabrous except for pilose hairs along the midrib or bearded hairs in the axils of the veins, the midrib and lateral veins are raised, and the lateral veins are 5-8 pairs; the petiole is 6-12 millimeters long.