Plant · P-399

American Plum

Prunus americana

American Plum forms dense thorny thickets by suckering from its own roots, spreading itself into a hedge across most of temperate North America from New Hampshire and Manitoba south to Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico. The fruit is acid and juicy under a tough skin, eaten fresh or cooked into jam, jelly, preserves, pies and dried like prunes, and the spring bloom draws bees while birds and mammals shelter in the thicket and take the late-summer fruit. One thing that surprises new growers: the leaves, seed and any wilted foliage carry hydrocyanic acid, so prunings need to stay away from stock and poultry.