''Prunus americana'', commonly called the American plum, wild plum, or Marshall's large yellow sweet plum, is a species of ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs from the family (biology), family Rosaceae. The genus includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds (collectively Drupe, stonefruit). The genus has a cosm ...

'' native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

from

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and Idaho south to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and east to

Québec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. ''Prunus americana'' has often been planted outside its native range and sometimes escapes cultivation.Little, Elbert L., Jr. (1950). ''Southwestern trees'': A guide to the native species of New Mexico and Arizona. Agric. Handb. No. 9. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 109 p. It is commonly confused with the Canada plum ('' Prunus nigra''), although the fruit is smaller and rounder and bright red as opposed to yellow. Many cultivated varieties have been derived from this species. It forms an excellent stock upon which to

graft Graft or grafting may refer to: *Graft (politics), a form of political corruption *Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp Science and technology *Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure *Grafting, the joining of plant ti ...

the domestic plum.

Description

The American plum grows as a large shrub or small tree, reaching up to . It is adapted to coarse- and medium-textured soils, but not to fine soils (silt or clay). Beneficially, the shrub survives harsh winters, down to temperatures of -40 degrees (Fahrenheit); but has little tolerance for shade, drought, or fire. Its growth is most active in spring and summer; it blooms in spring and starts fruiting in summer. It propagates naturally by seed, expanding as a stand relatively slowly, due to its long time to maturity when grown from seed. The roots are shallow, widely spread, and send up suckers. The numerous stems per plant become scaly with age. The tree has a crown width and height of 10 feet at maturity. The branches are thorny. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are alternately arranged, with an oval shape. The leaf length is usually long. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green; the underside is smooth and pale. The small white flowers with five petals occur singly or in clusters in the leaf axils. The globular fruits are about in diameter.

Taxonomy

''Prunus americana'' var. ''lanata'' Sudw is considered a synonym of '' Prunus mexicana'', and ''Prunus americana'' var. ''nigra'' is considered a synonym of '' Prunus nigra''. Chickasaw plum ('' Prunus angustifolia'' Marsh.) hybridizes naturally with ''P. americana'' to produce ''P.'' × ''orthosepala'' Koehne. In cultivation, many crosses have been made between American plum and other ''Prunus'' species, including '' Prunus persica'', the peach.

Uses

The American plum is used for both ornamental and culinary purposes. The white flowers are decorative in spring and its short, single leader makes it a popular residential landscape tree. Sargent says of it: "As an ornamental plant ''P. americana'' has real value; the long wand-like branches form a wide, graceful head which is handsome in winter and in spring is covered with masses of pure white flowers followed by ample bright foliage and abundant showy fruit." More than 200 forms of American plum have been grown for cultivation. The sour and sweet fruit is eaten fresh and is processed as preserves, jellies, jam and wine. Farms use medium to tall shrubs or trees for windbreaks, and highway or riverside plantings. Its high density of growth effectively reduces the wind velocity near the ground. Development of suckers from the root system makes American plum effective in stabilizing stream banks and gullies. It will tolerate several days of flooding. Some commercial properties plant the trees along the entrance road. Many birds and animals eat the fruit, and both

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

feed on twigs and leaves. Traditionally, American plum was extensively used by Native Americans. Eastern Native Americans planted many trees giving many places the name of Crab Orchard. The

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...

and Cheyenne ate the plums; the latter used the branches for the Sun Dance. The

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

used the roots to make a red dye.Elmore, Francis H. (1944). ''Ethnobotany of the Navajo.'' Monograph Series: 1(7). Albuquerque, NM:

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. 136 p.

Notes

References

External links

American plum
Virginia Tech Department of Forestry Tree identification

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q469524, from2=Q39779465 americana Edible fruits Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Western United States Fruits originating in North America Plants used in Native American cuisine Plants described in 1785 americana Trees of Northern America