Prunus hortulana, called the hortulan plum and wild goose plum, is a North American fruit shrub in the rose family.
Description Prunus hortulana is a deciduous tree with a height of or more and a trunk diameter of up to . The leaves are green and hairless on the top, but hairy on the underside. Clusters of 2–4 white flowers bloom in the spring. The fruits appear in late summer. They are red or yellow drupes with white dots, with a sweet and pleasant flavor.Bailey, Liberty Hyde 1892. Garden & Forest 5(209): 90
Taxonomy American botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey described the species in 1892.
There are several domesticated cultivars and hybrids with other Prunus.
Distribution and habitat The species is found in the central United States in: Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. Populations east of the Appalachians probably represent naturalizations.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
The tree grows in upland forests and near streams.
Uses The fruit is edible.
References
External links
photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Missouri in 2013, including photo showing ripe red fruits.