Nanking Cherry vs Falsebox - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Falsebox

Paxistima myrsinites

Prunus tomentosa

CUSTOM GROW

Falsebox
Nanking Cherry

Falsebox is a hardy, native evergreen shrub found in forests, rocky slopes, and open woodland sites. Though small and easily overlooked among the leaves, the maroon flowers still supply nectar and pollen for pollinators such as native bees and flies. Blooming in spring, they provide an important early-season food source. Its year-round greenery adds visual interest through the winter.

Falsebox is a low-growing shrub that tolerates a wide range of conditions, including drought once established. It thrives particularly well beneath the shade of mature trees, where few other plants succeed. With its resilience and ecological value, Falsebox is well-suited for naturalization, restoration projects, and diverse landscape plantings.

Nanking Cherry is a small deciduous shrub known for its attractive white blossoms and edible fruit. Its dark red berries are excellent for pies, jellies, and even fresh eating.

Nanking Cherry is highly regarded as a shade tolerant fruit. We often see it planted as a hedge on the north side of a house where few other plants will survive, let alone thrive.

Expect fruit mid to late July. The fruit can vary in sweetness and size considerably. We often hear that people prefer it to sour cherries. Perhaps this is because Nanking Cherry is more closely related to plums. In fact, it is sometimes used as a dwarfing rootstock for plums.

Falsebox Quick Facts

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

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Zone: 5a
Zone: 2a
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Light: any
Light: full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: prostrate to spreading
Spreading: layering - medium
Suckering: low


Foliage: evergreen, leathery leaves
Bark: reddish-brown
Flowers: small, maroon-purple, fragrant
Flowers: white, early spring
Bloom time: summer
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: false box, mountain boxwood, mountain lover, myrtle boxwood, oregon boxleaf, oregon boxwood
Other Names: ando cherry, chinese bush cherry, chinese dwarf cherry, downy cherry, hansens bush cherry, korean cherry, manchu cherry, mountain cherry, shanghai cherry