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Prunus salicina
Also called Chinese plum, Asian Plum, Plum, Willow Leaf Cherry, Jadu Cherry
Prunus salicina is a small deciduous fruit tree from China, grown widely for its plums; the cultivars sold in shops are mostly selections and hybrids of this species, and it is grown as a fruit tree rather than a houseplant.
Prunus salicina (syn. Prunus triflora or Prunus thibetica), commonly called the Chinese plum or Japanese plum, is a small, deciduous tree native to China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. It is an introduced species in Korea, Japan, the United States, and Australia.
Prunus salicina should not be confused with Prunus mume, a related species also commonly called Chinese plum; or the loquat, which is also known as the Japanese or Chinese Plum. Prunus japonica is another tree that is a separate species despite having a Latin name similar to Prunus salicina's common name.
The main producing country of Japanese plums is China, followed by the United States of America, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Pakistan, Korea, Australia, Chile, France, South Africa, and Argentina. The most famous variety of this fruit in Vietnam is the Tam Hoa plum grown in Bắc Hà town, in Lào Cai Province.
Japanese cultivars were introduced into the United States in the latter half of the 19th century, where subsequent breeding produced many more cultivars, generally with larger fruit. Plant breeder Luther Burbank developed a number of cultivars by hybridizing P. salicina with P. simonii and other native North American diploid plums such as P. americana, P. hortulana, or P. munsoniana. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries from these hybridizations, Burbank selected cultivars such as 'Beauty', 'Eldorado', 'Formosa', 'Gaviota', 'Santa Rosa', 'Shiro', and 'Wickson', some of which are still widely grown. One of the famous cultivars, "Santa Rosa", named after the city in California.
As with other stone fruits, the pit and leaves are poisonous to humans, as they contain amygdalin, which breaks down to hydrogen cyanide. While poisoning from unintentional ingestion of a few pits is unlikely, avoiding ingestion, especially of crushed pits, is recommended.
P. salicina is native to China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. In China, it grows in sparse forests, forest margins, thickets, along trails in mountains, and stream sides in valleys, at elevations of 200–2600 m. It grows best in temperate warmer regions, as it requires moderate temperatures and is usually early flowering.
Prunus adenopoda · Red stinkwood · Prunus aitchisonii · Alabama cherry · Prunus alaica · Allegheny plum · American plum · Prunus amplifolia · Almond · Desert peach · Chickasaw plum · Prunus annularis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Prunus salicina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
