American plum

Leaves

Form

• Ovate
• Usually widest slightly below the middle
• Narrowing abruptly to a long, slender tip
• Fully rounded at the base or with a slight taper toward the petiole
• Hairless or slightly hairy
• Thin, fragile
• Midvein prominent
• Lateral veins slender

Length

• 6–10 cm

Colour

• Upper surface dull dark green
• Lower surface slightly paler

Margin

• Double- or single-toothed
• Teeth sharp, prominent, rounded, not gland-tipped

Petiole

• Stout with large, dark glands

Buds

Form

• Appressed against the twig
• Pointed
• Scale tips thin, frayed

Length

• 3–8 mm

Colour

• Greyish
• Scales 2 shades of pale greyish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Slender, smooth
• Shorter shoots often end in a thorn
• May bear leaves and flowers
• Bitter almond flavour

Colour

• Greyish-brown to reddish-brown

Flowers

Form

• Showy, fragrant
• On short, slender stalk
• In small clusters (umbels) of 2–4 flowers on previous year’s twigs

Width

• About 25 mm

Colour

• White
  
• Stalk greenish-brown

Structure

• Synoecious

Floral timing

• As the leaves expand

Fruits

Form

• Somewhat elongated
• Skin thick, surface slightly powdery
• Flesh sweet or sour

Length

• About 20–25 mm

Colour

• Skin orange or reddish
• Flesh yellow

Timing

• Ripen from mid-August to early September

Bark

Form

• Slightly elongated lenticels
• With age splitting vertically, the 2 separated parts curling back slightly to reveal the inner bark
• Gradually becoming scaly

Colour

• Reddish-brown or dark grey to nearly black
• Lenticels greyish

Size

Height

• To 9 m

Diameter

• To 25 cm

Tree form

Open-grown

Trunk

• Short, crooked
• Often divided about a metre above the ground into several stiff, upright, crooked branches

Crown

• Irregular, flat-topped

Habitat

Site

• River valleys, pastures and along fencerows, especially on lime soils
• Widely scattered individual trees

Range

Central North America, southern Ontario, southern Manitoba, and the extreme southeastern portion of Saskatchewan