''Prunus subcordata'', known by the common names Klamath plum, Oregon plum, Pacific plum and Sierra plum, is a member of the genus ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...

'', native to the western United States, especially

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Description

''Prunus subcordata'' is an erect

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to in height with a trunk diameter of up to . It sprouts from its

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s and can form dense, spiny thickets. The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is gray with horizontal brown

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

s, similar in appearance to that of the cultivated cherry tree. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are long with a petiole, dark green, turning red before falling, and are faintly toothed. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are white or pinkish, 2 cm across, appearing in the spring in clusters of one to seven together. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a small,

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

-like

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

, variable in appearance, in length, and may be red or yellow; they mature in late summer. The plums are small and tart.Jepson Manual. University of California: ''Prunus subcordata''
/ref>Flora of North America, ''Prunus subcordata'' Bentham, 1849. Sierra or Klamath or Pacific plum
/ref> File:Prunus subcordata 2.jpg, Leaves and flowers File:Prunus subcordata 1.jpg, Thicket File:Prunus subcordata 4.jpg, Pinkish, pink-dotted flower close-up

Varieties

''P. subcordata'' var. ''kelloggii'' is less hairy and had larger, yellow fruits. ''P. subcordata'' var. ''rubicunda'' is a shrub with red fruits, which are relatively bitter. In addition to

and

, ''P. subcordata'' var. ''subcordata'', known as Klamath plum, is also found in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

.USDA Plants Profile:
Prunus subcordata
'. Accessed March 29, 2022.Calflora taxon report, University of California, ''Prunus subcordata'' Benth. Klamath plum, Sierra plum
/ref>

Similar species

Prunus americana ''Prunus americana'', commonly called the American plum, wild plum, or Marshall's large yellow sweet plum, is a species of ''Prunus'' native to North America from Saskatchewan and Idaho south to New Mexico and east to Québec, Maine and Florida. ...

'' (American or wild plum) is found in the eastern United States.

Taxonomy

The three main

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s are related to the plum's mountain ranges and locales.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

and from central to western and southern Oregon. It grows in forests, most often at low elevations near the coast, but is also found in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

and Cascades. It grows at altitudes of . The range of ''P. subcordata'' surrounds the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

, especially the western flank foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, but avoids the coast mountains of the southwest San Joaquin Valley. For other Pacific coastal ''Prunus'' species, '' P. emarginata'' is also found in the Pacific Northwest states; '' P. fremontii'' and '' P. ilicifolia'' are found in coastal or mountain areas of southwest California and northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Ecology

Various animals eat the fruit and thus spread the seeds.

Culture

The Concow tribe call the tree gos’-i (

Konkow language The Konkow language, also known as Northwest Maidu (also ''Concow-Maidu'', or ' in the language itself) is a part of the Maiduan language group. It is spoken in California. It is severely endangered, with three remaining elders who learned to s ...

References

External links

*
United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for ''Prunus subcordata'' (Klamath plum)

Lady Bird Johnson database, University of Texas, Klamath Plum

CalPhotos photo gallery, University of California
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2725382, from2=Q39780058 subcordata subcordata Flora of the West Coast of the United States Plants described in 1849 Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area