''Prunus darvasica'', the Darvaz plum, is rare plant endemic to

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. It is found in the Tajik portion of the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...

, the

Darvoz Range The Darvaz Range or Darvoz Range ( tg, пуштаи Дарвоз) is a mountain range in the Western Pamirs, in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. Its name derives from the historical region of Darvaz. ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' ...

. There, the plants grow as shrubs 1.5-2.5m tall. The fruit are small (2cm) but otherwise typical plums, nearly black, with a blue waxy coat. The pit is brown. The fruit is edible and can be made into jam or compote. It is suspected that ''P. darvasica'' is of hybrid origin, as it is a tetraploid with 48 (or 32, depending on the source) chromosomes, possibly the result of '' P. domestica'' × ('' P. prostrata'' × '' P. cerasifera'').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q56063891 darvasica darvasica Hybrid prunus Endemic flora of Tajikistan Plants described in 1956