Rock or Mountain Cherry                PRO-nus prost-RAY-ta

• Broadleaf deciduous, low growing, gnarled shrub, to 1 ft (30 cm) high, but may reach 3ft (0.9 m).  Leaves alternate, simple, oblong-ovate, 2-3.5 cm long, margin sharply serrate, pubescent below; petioles lack glands.   Flowers light rose colored, 1.5 cm wide, solitary or in pairs, style 7 mm long and shorter than the 22 or so stamens.  Fruit red to black-red, ovoid, 1 cm long, thin flesh; edible but not desired.
• Sun.  
• Hardy to USDA Zone (5) 6      Native to mountains at elevations between 2000 m and 4000 m (~6,500-13,000 ft) in the Mediterranean region, southern Europe, the Caucasus and Iran, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
• prostrata: "lying on the ground".  As has been pointed out, "a mechanical necessity at high altitude".
• Denver, Colorado: Denver Botanical Gardens