Hi, Which tastes best: Prunus maritima, Prunus americana, or Prunus augustifolia? Also, for wild cherries, which is better: Prunus serotina or Prunus virginiana. I assume Prunus pensylvanica is better then both, for those growing in completely full sun. I've tasted P. maritima, and I really liked it. Steve

This is a Pacific or Western plum (Prunus subcordata, Bentham) and it is a native species found growing wild in a relatively limited region east of the Coast Range from southern Oregon to central California. It occurs in greatest abundance in Lake and Klamath counties in Oregon and Modoc and Sierra counties in California. While the greatest concentration of the native thickets in California seems to be in the general vicinity of Mount Shasta, the plum is found in more or less abundance east and south of the Nevada line, especially in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. It has been reported as far south as Yosemite Valley. The plum usually forms thickets of small to large shrubby trees along streams in canyons, on hillsides, or in the open area of pine forest. In other cases the thickets are found on ridges which are thought to be the shore lines of prehistoric lakes. There is a general similarity in the sites on which the plum thrives and spread throughout the region, so much so that one can almost predict the location of the thickets. The largest trees are found in these thickets growing on the deeper, sandy-loam soils in the canyons where water is ample, and the richer bottomlands adjoining the old lake beds. The hardiness of the species and its ability to adapt itself to adverse conditions is typified by the scrubby little thickets found growing out of rock slides at high elevations. An occasional thicket is found, however, where drought or exposure has all but killed out the stand. The region in which the plum is native has an elevation of 1,000 to 5,000 feet, although it has been observed growing in favorable locations in the mountains of the region at elevations as high as 6,000 feet. At these higher elevations the plums are less apt to bear crops and are late in ripening.

I'd go with americana first if you can't get nigra,..very similar.

Yes...open pollinated, he had some apricots near by.. think the main discouragement with Thean was the poor pollination, storage is very poor also, but lots of our plums are poor, straight off the tree it is a good plum and not soggy which I like. Some people might be discouraged by the astringent skin, but flesh/texture is like a well ripened apricot, very sweet, around 20 brix. I dehydrated some which I found it makes it worse, [more astringent]. Think it would make great jam. I'd like to check next time if the skin can easily be removed with a quick dip in boiling water, [my mom used to do with Green Gage for caning, if it does, do the same...it might get the WOW factor lol. Might not make a good caning plum because the flesh is too soft..maybe pick a couple of days early. These are top grafted to wild plum and peach plum..seems no difference...yes, think lack of bees is the main culprit for poor pollination. The seeds resemble a little like apricots..planted these out, will be interesting to see the offspring.