Plant · P-398

Japanese Plum

Prunus salicina

Japanese Plum, despite the name, is actually a Chinese species, and it is the plum behind most of the world's fresh-market fruit trade. It ripens early, bears a fruit up to about 3 inches across that resists rotting unusually well, and is eaten fresh, cooked into preserves, or dried. Its real advantage over the European plum is a far lower winter-chill requirement, which is why nearly every cultivar recommended for a hot-summer climate belongs to this species rather than that one. Bloom comes very early, which draws pollinators hard but also exposes the crop to late frost.