W 111) PL1 M 

 Prunus americana Marsh. 



The I Mum Family 



DRUPACEAl 



llahit and Habitat: A small tree, feet in height, with a trunk 



rarely attaining a diameter of 1 foot, commonly much smaller, often 

 shrubby and bushy; usually divided 1-6 fort from the ground into many 



spreading branches which form a broad, open crown, often more or l< 

 irregular and thorny. Prefers the rich, moist soil on the banks of 

 streams or about ponds and lakes, frequently forming thickets of con- 

 siderable extent in such sites. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves simple, alternate, oval or sometin 

 OOOVate, acuminate, narrowed and often rounded at the base, sharply 

 and often doubly serrate, thick and firm, dark green above, pale and 

 smooth, or more or less hairy beneath, 3-4 inches long, about lVk inches 

 wide; petioles slender, Vz-% inch long:. Winter-buds acute, Vk - J * 

 inch long-, chestnut-brown; inner scales becoming leaf-like as the buds 

 unfold. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers appearing; in early spring with the 

 leaves, or before the leaves, about 1 inch in diameter, fragrant, on 

 slender, smooth, or hairy, green pedicels Vb-% inch long;, in 2-~>- 

 flowered clusters; calyx 5-lobed, light red, smooth, green inside, lobes 

 acute; petals •">. white, rounded or slightly cut at the apex; stamen- 

 15-20; ovary club-shaped, greenish. Fruit a globose plum, usually less 

 than 1 inch in diameter, green, or as it ripens turning to orange, red and 

 bright red when ripe; skin thick, tough, acrid; flesh bright yellow, acid, 

 sweet, juicy, edible; stone oval, pointed at the apex, often as thick as 

 broad, sometimes distinctly flattened, ridged or grooved on the edge. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Branchlets are light green at tirst, smooth 

 or more or less densely hairy, light orange-brown during the first winter, 

 becoming darker and tinged w r ith red or purple; the trees often develop 

 many slender, and more or less spiay, lateral branchlets. The bark on 

 the main trunk is about V2 inch thick, dark brown, tinged with red, sep- 

 arating at the surface into large, thin, scaly, persistent plates. Wood 

 hard, heavy, close-grained, strong, dark brown tinged with red, with 

 thin lighter colored sapwood. 



Distribution in the State: The wild plum is common in the country 

 east of the Great Plains, into and across which it has been carried. It 

 is found in nearly all portions of Nebraska even in the heart of the 

 sandhill region where it has been carried by the birds and where it is 

 often seen in the form of dense thickets in enclosed "pockets" far away 

 from any >tream or any other area of plum thicket. Slap 3S 



Remarks: This is the wild plum, the fruits of which have been 

 eagerly sought upon plumming expeditions innumerable. The fruit may 

 b»- made into plum butter, preserves or jelly. The Indians of the state 

 formerly utilized this wild fruit to supplement their natural food supply 

 which was rather meagre in the proportion of fruits. There are a number 

 of destructive fundus diseases which have damaged these trees greatly 

 during the past few years and have materially reduced the yield of 

 fruit, but still one may collect many bushels of the delicious fruits in 

 many parts of the state nearly every summer. 



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