Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands

Diné bikéyah Chi’l nooséłígíí Bąąhą́ą́nosin

Take care of our Navajo Rangelands

Red plum

(a.k.a. American plum )

Didzétsoh dík’ǫ́zhígíí

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.

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

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Individual photographers retain all rights to their images.
Partially funded by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (westernsare.org; 435.797.2257), project EW15-023.
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