Prunus mahaleb
Details Top
| Internal ID | UUID6440401a56a20945592763 |
| Scientific name | Prunus mahaleb |
| Authority | L. |
| First published in | Sp. Pl. : 474 (1753) |
Ethnobotanical Use Top
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Important notice
- Content in this section summarizes historical and cultural records. It is not medical advice.
- Do not use plants for self-treatment. Safety, efficacy, and appropriate use are not established here.
- Plant identification errors, allergies, and interactions can cause harm. Consult qualified professionals for health questions.
- Local legality and regulatory status may vary; verify before collecting, processing, or selling plant materials.
Prunus mahaleb L., known as St. Lucie’s cherry or mahaleb, is a small, aromatic tree that grows throughout the Mediterranean basin and into Central Asia. Its fragrant leaves and hard‑shelled seeds have appeared in several ethnobotanical surveys that record how local peoples transform these plant parts into teas, decoctions and poultices for health purposes.
Among the Serbs of the Dinaric Alps, the leaves are steeped in hot water to make a mild diuretic tea (Djurović, 2015). In the Black Sea region of Turkey, a leaf infusion is taken to relieve the pain of urinary‑stone discomfort (Güner & Gökçü, 2013). In the Kurdish community of Kermanshah province, Iran, the seeds are boiled into a short decoction that is used to calm a cough (Hosseinzadeh & Mirzaei, 2017). These three practices involve only the plant parts named – leaves for the Balkan and Turkish infusions and seeds for the Iranian decoction – and each is documented in peer‑reviewed ethnobotanical work.
A simple leaf tea can be prepared by placing about two grams of dried leaves in a cup of just‑boiled water, covering and allowing the mixture to steep for ten minutes. The resulting infusion is strained and can be drunk warm, typically no more than two cups per day. Because Prunus mahaleb contains cyanogenic glycosides, excessive consumption should be avoided; the tea is contraindicated in pregnancy and should not be used by people with known allergies to Rosaceae plants.
Phytochemical investigations of the species have repeatedly identified cyanogenic glycosides such as amygdalin and prunasin in the seeds, as well as flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol and phenolic acids such as chlorogenic acid in the leaves (Duke & du Toit, 2018; PFAF, 2022). These constituents are consistent with the diuretic, antispasmodic and mild expectorant actions reported in the folk preparations.
Recent laboratory studies have explored the antioxidant activity of mahaleb leaf extracts, while the seed remains a commercially available spice under the name “mahaleb” in many Mediterranean markets. Although modern clinical trials are still limited, the traditional infusions and decoctions continue to be used by rural communities, and the plant’s modest popularity as a culinary ingredient sustains a modest supply chain that keeps the ethnobotanical knowledge alive.
General Uses Top
Suggest a correction!Common products:
None documented.
Industrial and craft applications:
None documented.
Food and beverages (non-medicinal):
None documented.
Colorants and tanning:
None documented.
Wood and fiber:
None documented.
Fragrance and cosmetics:
None documented.
Properties relevant to use:
None documented.
Standards and regulation:
None documented.
Sustainability and sourcing:
None documented.
Synonyms Top
| Scientific name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Cerasus mahaleb | Mill. | Gard. Dict. ed. 8 : Cerasus n.º 4 (1768) |
| Padus mahaleb | Borkh. | Arch. Bot. (Leipzig) 1(2): 38 (1797) |
| Druparia mahaleb | [Clairv.] | Man. Herbor. Suisse : 159 (1811) |
| Cerasus corymbosa | St.-Lag. | Ann. Soc. Bot. Lyon 7: 122 (1880) |
| Padellus mahaleb | (L.) Vassilcz. | Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 10: 185 (1973) |
| Padellus mahaleb subsp. simonkaii | (Pénzes) Soják | Cas. Nár. Muz., Rada Prír. 153: 171 (1984 publ. 1985) |
| Cerasus mahaleb var. alpina | Browicz | Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 31: 321 (1972) |
| Prunus mahaleb prol. typica | Asch. & Graebn. | Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 6(2): 156 (1906) |
| Padus mahaleb var. typica | (Asch. & Graebn.) Buia | Fl. Republ. Popul. Române 4: 880 (1956) |
| Mahaleb vulgaris | Takht. | Fl. Armen. 3: 324 (1958) |
| Prunus mahaleb var. typica | Fiori | Fl. Anal. Italia 1: 561 (1898) |
| Prunus mahaleb subsp. typica | (Asch. & Graebn.) Pénzes | Bot. Közlem. 47: 289 (1958) |
Common names Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Language | Common/alternative name |
|---|---|
| English | mahaleb cherry |
| English | saint lucie cherry |
| Spanish | cerezo de santa lucia |
| Spanish | ollaran |
| Spanish | abanera |
| Spanish | arbol de santa lucia |
| Spanish | Árbol de santa lucía |
| Spanish | arto cutio |
| Spanish | cerezo de mahoma |
| Spanish | cerezo de puerto |
| Spanish | pudriera |
| Spanish | ollarán |
| Spanish | maleino |
| Spanish | mahaleb |
| Spanish | guinda silvestre |
| Spanish | cerezo de santa lucía |
| Arabic | شجر ادريس |
| Arabic | محلب |
| Azerbaijani | mahaleb |
| Azerbaijani | mahaleb meşə gilası |
| Azerbaijani | meşə albalısı |
| azb | مئشه آلبالیسی |
| Bulgarian | махалебка |
| Bosnian | rašeljka |
| Catalan | cirerer de guineu |
| Catalan | cireres de moixó |
| Catalan | cirerer de santa llúcia |
| Catalan | cirer de guineu |
| Catalan | cirer de guilla |
| Catalan | cirer bord |
| Catalan | bois de sainte lucie |
| Czech | mahalebka obecná |
| Czech | třešeň mahalebka |
| Czech | višeň turecká |
| Welsh | coeden geirios sant lucie |
| Danish | weichseltræ |
| Danish | weichsel |
| German | felsen-kirsche |
| German | steinweichsel |
| German | bois de sainte lucie |
| German | felsenkirsche |
| German | stein-weichsel |
| dv | މަހުލުނބޯ |
| Basque | oilaran |
| Persian | محلب |
| Finnish | mahlebi |
| Finnish | veikselinkirsikka |
| French | cerisier de sainte lucie |
| French | qneu |
| French | faux merisier |
| French | quénot |
| French | faux-merisier |
| French | cerisier de sainte-lucie |
| French | bois de sainte lucie |
| Croatian | rašeljka |
| Upper Sorbian | Čećikata wišnja |
| Hungarian | sajmeggy |
| Armenian | բալենի մահալեբյան |
| Italian | ciliegio di santa lucia |
| Italian | ciliegio canino |
| Japanese | プルヌス・マハレブ |
| Georgian | ბალღოჯი |
| Kabyle | tatrisa |
| Korean | 루치아벚나무 |
| ku | kenêr |
| Lithuanian | bois de sainte lucie |
| Malayalam | പുണ്യാവ |
| Malayalam | ഗന്ധപ്രിയാങ്കു |
| Malayalam | perfumed cherry |
| Norwegian Bokmål | mahaleb |
| Dutch | weichselboom |
| Dutch | weichselkers |
| os | Балгъодзы |
| pcd | sinte-luchie |
| Polish | wiśnia wonna |
| Polish | antypka |
| Russian | Антипка |
| Serbo-Croatian | rašeljka |
| Slovenian | rešeljika |
| Swedish | vejksel |
| Swedish | bois de sainte lucie |
| Turkish | mahlep |
| Turkish | mehlep |
| Uzbek | kamxastak |
| Chinese | 麻哈勒布樱桃 |
| Chinese | 马哈利樱桃 |
| Chinese | 圓葉櫻桃 |
| Chinese | 圆叶樱桃 |
Subspecies (abbr. subsp./ssp.) Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Prunus mahaleb subsp. cupaniana | (Guss.) Arcang. | Comp. Fl. Ital. : 211 (1882) |
| Prunus mahaleb subsp. mahaleb | Unknown |
Germination/Propagation Top
Suggest a correction or add new data!
No germination or propagation data was added yet.
Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top
Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
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Africa click to expand
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Northern Africa
- Morocco
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Northern Africa
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Asia-temperate click to expand
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Caucasus
- North Caucasus
- Transcaucasus
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Middle Asia
- Kazakhstan
- Kirgizstan
- Tadzhikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
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Western Asia
- East Aegean Islands
- Iran
- Iraq
- Lebanon-Syria
- Turkey
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Caucasus
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Asia-tropical click to expand
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Indian Subcontinent
- Pakistan
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Indian Subcontinent
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Australasia click to expand
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Australia
- New South Wales
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Australia
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Europe click to expand
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Eastern Europe
- Baltic States
- Central European Russia
- East European Russia
- Krym
- Ukraine
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Middle Europe
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czechoslovakia
- Germany
- Hungary
- Netherlands
- Switzerland
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Northern Europe
- Denmark
- Great Britain
- Norway
- Sweden
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Southeastern Europe
- Albania
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Italy
- Romania
- Sicilia
- Turkey-in-Europe
- Yugoslavia
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Southwestern Europe
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- Portugal
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Eastern Europe
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Northern America click to expand
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Eastern Canada
- Ontario
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North-central U.S.A.
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Northeastern U.S.A.
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South-central U.S.A.
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- District Of Columbia
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Subarctic America
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Western Canada
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Eastern Canada
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Southern America click to expand
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Southern South America
- Argentina Northeast
- Argentina South
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Southern South America
Links to other databases Top
Suggest others/fix!| Database | ID/link to page |
|---|---|
| World Flora Online | wfo-0001013325 |
| Canadensys | 8867 |
| USDA Plants | PRMA |
| Tropicos | 27801106 |
| INPN | 116096 |
| Flora of Italy | 2231 |
| KEW | urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:729931-1 |
| The Plant List | rjp-57 |
| Plantarium | 26630 |
| Open Tree Of Life | 1012886 |
| Observations.org | 7266 |
| NCBI Taxonomy | 129217 |
| NBN Atlas | NBNSYS0000033861 |
| Nature Serve | 2.139418 |
| IUCN Red List | 172121 |
| IPNI | 729931-1 |
| iNaturalist | 126808 |
| GBIF | 3022789 |
| Freebase | /m/02w1cdz |
| EPPO | PRNMH |
| EOL | 628570 |
| Elurikkus | 351786 |
| Calflora (Californian flora) | 9206 |
| USDA GRIN | 30034 |
| Wikipedia | Prunus_mahaleb |
| CMAUP | NPO21639 |
Genomes (via NCBI) Top
Below is displayed the reference genome only!
If you wish to browse all genomes for this plant click here.
If you wish to browse all genomes for this plant click here.
| Accession | Assembly | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Level | Submitter | Released | Coverage | Size | |
| GCA_048569315.1 | ASM4856931v1 | Chromosome | Nanjing Forestry University | 2025-03-13 | 109 | 259.17 Mb |
Scientific Literature Top
Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
| Title | Authors | Publication | Released | IDs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifying the generalizable controls on insect associations of native and non‐native trees | Gougherty AV, Klapwijk M, Liebhold AM, Mech A, Trombik J, Fei S | Ecol Evol | 12-May-2024 |
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| A comprehensive review on pharmacognosy, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of 8 potent Prunus species of southeast Asia | Shikha A, Adarsh K, Ankit KS, Harshwardhan S, Suresh T, Pradeep K | J Tradit Chin Med | 30-Apr-2024 |
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| Wild Edible Plants Used in Dalmatian Zagora (Croatia) | Ninčević Runjić T, Jug-Dujaković M, Runjić M, Łuczaj Ł | Plants (Basel) | 11-Apr-2024 |
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| Separation Methods of Phenolic Compounds from Plant Extract as Antioxidant Agents Candidate | Susanti I, Pratiwi R, Rosandi Y, Hasanah AN | Plants (Basel) | 27-Mar-2024 |
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| Pest categorisation of Pyrrhoderma noxium | Bragard C, Baptista P, Chatzivassiliou E, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jaques Miret JA, Justesen AF, MacLeod A, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas‐Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Stefani E, Thulke H, Van der Werf W, Vicent Civera A, Yuen J, Zappalà L, Golic D, Gobbi A, Maiorano A, Pautasso M, Reignault PL | EFSA J | 19-Mar-2024 |
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| Traditional Use of Wild Edible Plants in Slovenia: A Field Study and an Ethnobotanical Literature Review | Papež Kristanc A, Kreft S, Strgulc Krajšek S, Kristanc L | Plants (Basel) | 24-Feb-2024 |
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| Performance Evaluation of a Commercial Real-Time PCR Method for the Detection of Lupin Traces in Food | Tramuta C, Decastelli L, Ingravalle F, Barcucci E, Fragassi S, Bianchi DM | Foods | 17-Feb-2024 |
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| Seed Dormancy Class and Germination Characteristics of Prunus spachiana (Lavallée ex Ed.Otto) Kitam. f. ascendens (Makino) Kitam Native to the Korean Peninsula | Kim GM, Ko CH, Chung JM, Kwon HC, Rhie YH, Lee SY | Plants (Basel) | 11-Feb-2024 |
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| The Orophilous Shrubby Vegetation of the Juniperetalia hemisphaericae Order in Sicily: A Refuge Habitat for Many Endemic Vascular Species | Sciandrello S, Giusso del Galdo G | Plants (Basel) | 31-Jan-2024 |
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| An Overview of Orthoptera Mass Occurrences in Croatia from 1900 to 2023 | Kasalo N, Tvrtković N, Bogić D, Kokan B, Vuković M, Kučinić M, Skejo J | Insects | 23-Jan-2024 |
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| Pest categorisation of Malacosoma parallela | Bragard C, Baptista P, Chatzivassiliou E, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jaques Miret JA, Justesen AF, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas‐Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Reignault PL, Stefani E, Thulke H, Van der Werf W, Vicent Civera A, Yuen J, Zappalà L, Grégoire J, Malumphy C, Gobbi A, Kertesz V, Maiorano A, MacLeod A | EFSA J | 22-Jan-2024 |
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| Effect of Yeast Inoculation on the Bacterial Community Structure in Reduced-Salt Harbin Dry Sausages: A Perspective of Fungi–Bacteria Interactions | Sui Y, Li X, Gao Y, Kong B, Jiang Y, Chen Q | Foods | 18-Jan-2024 |
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| Fungal Planet description sheets: 1550–1613 | Crous PW, Costa MM, Kandemir H, Vermaas M, Vu D, Zhao L, Arumugam E, Flakus A, Jurjević Ž, Kaliyaperumal M, Mahadevakumar S, Murugadoss R, Shivas RG, Tan YP, Wingfield MJ, Abell SE, Marney TS, Danteswari C, Darmostuk V, Denchev CM, Denchev TT, Etayo J, Gené J, Gunaseelan S, Hubka V, Illescas T, Jansen GM, Kezo K, Kumar S, Larsson E, Mufeeda KT, Piątek M, Rodriguez-Flakus P, Sarma PV, Stryjak-Bogacka M, Torres-Garcia D, Vauras J, Acal DA, Akulov A, Alhudaib K, Asif M, Balashov S, Baral HO, Baturo-Cieśniewska A, Begerow D, Beja-Pereira A, Bianchinotti MV, Bilański P, Chandranayaka S, Chellappan N, Cowan DA, Custódio FA, Czachura P, Delgado G, De Silva NI, Dijksterhuis J, Dueñas M, Eisvand P, Fachada V, Fournier J, Fritsche Y, Fuljer F, Ganga KG, Guerra MP, Hansen K, Hywel-Jones N, Ismail AM, Jacobs CR, Jankowiak R, Karich A, Kemler M, Kisło K, Klofac W, Krisai-Greilhuber I, Latha KP, Lebeuf R, Lopes ME, Lumyong S, Maciá-Vicente JG, Maggs-Kölling G, Magistà D, Manimohan P, Martín MP, Mazur E, Mehrabi-Koushki M, Miller AN, Mombert A, Ossowska EA, Patejuk K, Pereira OL, Piskorski S, Plaza M, Podile AR, Polhorský A, Pusz W, Raza M, Ruszkiewicz-Michalska M, Saba M, Sánchez RM, Singh R, Śliwa L, Smith ME, Stefenon VM, Strasiftáková D, Suwannarach N, Szczepańska K, Telleria MT, Tennakoon DS, Thines M, Thorn RG, Urbaniak J, van der Vegte M, Vasan V, Vila-Viçosa C, Voglmayr H, Wrzosek M, Zappelini J, Groenewald JZ | Persoonia | 30-Dec-2023 |
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| Ethnomedicinal evaluation of medicinal plants used for therapies by men and women in rural and urban communities in Makkah district | Qari SH, Alqethami A, Qumsani AT | Saudi Pharm J | 02-Dec-2023 |
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| Unveiling the Potential of Bioinoculants and Nanoparticles in Sustainable Agriculture for Enhanced Plant Growth and Food Security | Karnwal A, Dohroo A, Malik T | Biomed Res Int | 29-Nov-2023 |
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Phytochemical Profile Top
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Collections Top
| In private collections | 0 |
| In public collections | 0 |