Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands

Diné bikéyah Chi’l nooséłígíí Bąąhą́ą́nosin
Take care of our Navajo Rangelands

Red plum
Didzétsoh dík’ǫ́zhígíí
(a.k.a. American plum )

Growth habit showing typical abundant deciduous foliage and green fruits
Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org

Red plum is a shrub or small tree that can form small groves in moist middle elevation creekbeds and riparian areas. The small umbels of flowers bloom in the spring before the plant leafs out. The bark is gray and obviously peeling away on larger trunks. The trunks can be up to 8 1/4 inches in diameter. The flowers are white, and the petals are about 1/2 inch long. The leaves are serrate and mostly glabrous.

*Description courtesy of Western New Mexico University's Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness.

White-pink flowers with five petals
David Stephens, Bugwood.org
Example of flowers that have white petals and yellow stamens that appear slightly fuzzy
William M. Ciesla, Forest Health Management Intern
Arrangement of flowers on a reddish twig
T. Davis Sydnor, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org
Reddish-purple, globular ripe fruit and branch showing dark brown bark with smooth texture marked by small, lighter colored lines called lenticels
T. Davis Sydnor, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org
Scientific Name
Prunus americana
Plant Type
Tree
Growing Season
Warm Season
Habitat
River valleys
Flower Color
White
✓
Edible fruit
For definitions, see the glossary.

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