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.

It was so hard to get among this group, I was ready to sign off. My son's farm has many fruit trees, 2 are plum's, big, moist, blue on purple, the pit is attached to the flesh of the fruit and makes it hard to prepare jam. I wish to have some idea of the proportions. I assume I will have 5 cups of fruit, I want to add some almonds and a bit of honey, about half a glass of liquid honey. What should be the amount of sugar to add and should I add pictin? If I do not find the one for jams, could I use a pack or 2 of Jelo with strawberry or peach flavor. Thanks for helping me, it will be my first time making jam although I am in my 80s. Antea

Here you go. Link below has several recipes both with and without. Pectin is optional it can be made with or without. Your choice. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Plum Jam with no added pectin

Barnmom, I made two batches of Santa Rosa Plum jam in the past 10 days. The first batch, I used about 4 lbs very ripe Santa Rosa plums, 2 lbs sugar (Trader Joes organic evaporated cane juice), fresh juice from 2 lemons and 1 pkg. sure-jell. I first cut the plums in half, simmered them until the pits fell out, removed the pits, added the sugar and lemon and pectin, and cooked on high heat, stirring for about 20 minutes. It jelled beautifully. The taste is wonderful, but everyone in the family thinks it's more tart than eating the fruit by itself. The second batch, I used the method from "Mes Confitures". I again used about 6 lbs very ripe Santa Rosa plums, but more sugar, about 4 lbs (also Trader Joes organic evaporated cane juice), fresh juice from 2 lemons and no pectin. This time I added 3 vanilla beans, split open. I first cut the plums in half but combined them with the sugar, vanlla and lemon right away. I let the mixture sit for an hour, then simmered for about 10 minutes. Then I put the mixture into the fridge overnight. The next day, I removed the large pieces of plums that didn't contain the pits, and cooked the rest on high heat, stirring for about 30 minutes (until it started to set... much longer than the recipe stated). I removed the pits after they all separated out, and also the vanilla beans. I then added back the plum pieces, brought back to a high boil for a few minutes. Again, the mixture jelled beautifully. The taste is wonderful, but everyone in the family thinks the tartness is about the same! I do however notice that I very much prefer the taste of the second jam. The first seems much closer to commercial jams. Definitely a wonderful "plum-ness" with such fresh ripe fruit, but a blended sweet/tart. The second method seems "brighter" to me somehow. Each of the flavors, tart, sweet, plum-ness, vanilla, lemon seem separated and concentrated. Hard to describe. But it's now my favorite method by far. Good luck with your jam experiments. It's great to see so many jam threads. I'm very inspired this year.