Index / Search / Prunus americana

§1 Plant

Prunus americana Marshall

vernacular American plum — species · Rosaceae


USDA
PRAM
GBIF
3021106
Rank
species
American plum (Prunus americana)
Platephotograph · Ryan Byrne source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Rosaceae Juss.
Genus
Prunus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 16 counties across 2 states/territories
Legend Native · 16 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
16–40 in/yr
pH range
5–7
Root depth
24 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
24 ft
Height @ 20 y
24 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Red
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
870
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 16 counties across 2 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PRAM ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3021106 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z