207. PRUNUS SUBCOBDATA PACIFIC PLUM, WILD PLUM. 27 



207 PRUNUS SUBCORDATA, BENTH. 



PACIFIC PLUM, WILD PLUM. 



Ger., Calif ornische Wilde Pflauine ; Fr., Prune sauvage de Cali- 

 fornie ; Sp., Ciruelv sdoestre de California. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Leaves broadly ovate to orbicular, 1 to 3 inches in 

 length, usually obtuse at apex, and cordate or truncate (rarely cuneate) at base, 

 sharply and finely (sometimes doubl} T ) serrate, somewhat pubescent at first but at 

 maturity glabrous, dark green above, paler and somewhat puberulous beneath 

 coriaceous, with broad midribs and conspicuous veins; stipules caducous; winter 

 buds about | in. long, acute, with chestnut brown scarious-niargined scales, those 

 of the inner rows accrescent; branchlets finely pubescent at first, finally glabrous. 

 Flowers appear before the leaves (March or April) from lateral buds, about | in. 

 across, in two to four flowered subsessile umbels with slender pedicels from ^ to 

 | in. in length; calyx canpanulate, with lobes rounded at apex, pubescent outside 

 and furnished with pale hairs on inner surface; petals about twice as long as 

 calyx lobes, rounded above and contracted into a short claw at base; stamens 

 glabrous; pistil with slender style and glabrous ovary. Fruit ripens in August or 

 September, .oblong, f to 1^ in. long, glabrous, varying from dark red to light yel- 

 low, flesh succulent, of excellent subacid flavor and adhering to the pit, which is 

 flattish, acute at both ends, acutely edged on one side and grooved on the other. 



(The specific name, stibcordata, Latin for somewhat heart-shaped, refers to the 

 shape of the leaves.) 



A small tree, sometimes attaining the height of 20 or 25 ft. (7 in.), 

 and rarely 10 or 12 in. (0.30 m.) in diameter uf trunk, but it is usually 

 a considerably smaller tree and often only a scraggy shrub. When a 

 tree it develops a Vide top of ash-gray scraggy branches and the bark 

 of trunk, of a dark-gray color, becomes fissured lengthwise into scaly 

 ridges and thin irregular plates. 



HABITAT. The Pacific Plum is found from central California to 

 southern Oregon in the region west of the Sierra Nevadas and Gas- 

 cade ranges, inhabiting dry rocky hill-sides in considerable abundance 

 and along the banks of streams, reaching its greatest development and 

 producing its best fruit in the northern part of its range. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood hard, heavy, close-grained, with 

 numerous fine medullary rays, showing a satiny surface when polished. 

 It is of a pale-brown color mottled in places with reddish and having 

 thin lighter sap-wood. 



USES. The fruit of this tree is gathered and used in large quan- 

 ties both as a fresh fruit and variously preserved or dried. It has 

 been found that the quality of the fruit and productiveness of the tree 

 can be materially improved by cultivation and selection. 



