American Plum – Native Plant of the Day 02/16/2018
Photo from 4/2/2011. Location: Walker County, GA.
More info / photos at the Prunus americana detail page.
American Plum, Wild Plum – Prunus americana
Also NPOD 07/25/2012, 07/04/2013, 02/16/2014, 02/16/2015, 02/16/2016, 02/16/2017
These are beauties Gerry!
Thanks, Mia.
Besides the fruit, what’s a good way to ID Prunus americana and separate it from other native Prunus species?
Well, Frank, I cheated by getting the identification from someone with local flora expertise greater than mine. Since Prunus is such a large genus (40+ species in North America), I’d probably still be trying to figure it out without that help; probably wouldn’t even have gone initially to Prunus. However, looking in the keys and descriptions from Flora of North America, and in Weakley’s Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, I’d say if you think it’s Prunus, the inflorescence has 2 to 5 flowers, the pedicel is longer than 1/2″, and the underside of the sepals and outer surface of the hypanthium is glabrous, you probably have Prunus americana.