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Red plums

Plum

Plums are temperate fruits which when mature are often covered by a wax coating called "wax bloom". This gives them a bluish-grey appearance.

This page provides some basic information on plums or prunes, together with plum photos and some proverbs and quotes about plums.


Basic information on plum

Scientific name: Prunus domestica
English: Plum
Prune
Common plum
European plum
Dutch: Pruim
Pruimenboom
Europese cultuurpruim
Kwets
Spanish: Ciruelo
French: Prunier
Prune
German: Pflaume
Kultur-Pflaume
Italian: Susino
Susina
Prugna
   
Family: Rosaceae
Order: Rosales
   
Origin: The plum probably originates from the Caucasus Mountains near the Caspian Sea.
Distribution: Plums are grown in most temparate regions. Highest production is in China, Serbia, USA, Turkey, Spain, Italy, France, and Romania.
   
Evergreen or deciduous: Plums are deciduous.
Flowers: Plum flowers in early spring. The flowers have 5 petals and are white.
Leaves:  
Fruits: Plum fruits are juicy with a sweet but sometimes tart taste (especially the skin). They are round, with a diameter of around 8 cm or smaller. The color varies according to the variety and can be red, yellow, blue or purple. Mature fruits sometime have a dusty-white coating that gives them a glaucous appearance. This natural wax is easily rubbed off.
Climate and weather: Plums grow well in temparate climates.
Pollination: Plums are pollinated by bees. Some types of plum are self-fertile (they can be pollinated with their own pollen) but some varieties require pollen from another variety to be able to produce fruits.
Height: Plum is usually large shrub or a small tree.
Crown size:  
Blooming period  
Type of soil:  
Preferred pH:  
Moisture:  
Light:  
Growth rate:  
Spacing (close range)  
Spacing (wide range)  
Canopy:  
Propagation: Plum trees grown from seed may not grow true to seed. Therefore plum trees are usually propagated through cuttings or grafting.
Insect pests: Black aphids.
Diseases: Plums are especially vulnerable to Silver leaf (Chondrostereum purpureum), which is a fungal disease that causes silvering of the leaves.
Fruit development:  
Harvesting: Plums must be harvested when they are ripe by hand picking, or shaking the tree and picking them up. If plums are not harvested immediately when they are ripe, the fruits may brown rot (a fungal disease).
Uses: Usually eaten fresh. Sometimes used to make plum wine. Some plums are sold dried.
Plums have a laxative effect.

Plum photos

Red plums Plums Plums

Proverbs about plum

  • A black plum is as sweet as a white.
  • A cherry year, a merry year; a plum year, a dumb year.
  • If heaven above lets fall a plum, open your mouth.
  • Receive a plum, return a peach.
  • The higher the tree, the sweeter the plum
  • There's no making apples of plums.
  • You need plant only one cherry and one plum tree.

Quotes about plum

  • What is more mortifying than to feel that you have missed the plum for want of courage to shake the tree? (Logan Pearsall Smith)
  • Harvard takes perfectly good plums as students, and turns them into prunes. (Frank Lloyd Wright)
  • The end of a novel, like the end of a children's dinner-party, must be made up of sweetmeats and sugar-plums. (Anthony Trollope)
  • Like a prune, you are not getting any better looking, but you are getting sweeter. (N. D. Stice)

Recipes

No recipe yet with plum. If you know one, please send me a message.



 

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