(American Plum) A full size fruit tree located in the Upland Garden on the first hill at Guidebook station 46. Newer plants in the Woodland Garden. Flowers: The one inch wide white 5-part flowers are single or in small clusters (umbels) along the stems, at the juncture of stem and leaf, at the same time as the leaves unfurl. There are numerous stamens with yellow anthers. Flowers are individually stalked but the cluster is sessile. Flowering stems are usually grayish and scaly with age. Older flowering stems also have short twigs, marked with scars or small buds and with thorn-like tips. Horizontal lenticels are visible. Older bark has irregular ridges and exfoliated patches. Twigs are more reddish-brown with sharp pointed buds. The plant can be a large shrub or grow into tree size of up to 15 feet high. Leaves are alternate, oval, with a tapering tip, have sharp edges and sometimes double toothed. Fruits are drupes about one inch in size, yellow to red, edible and often used in making jams and jellies.

Wild plum is valuable for wildlife cover and food. It has a suckering habit, forming dense thickets that provide good bird habitat. It has shallow, wide spreading roots and when young is easily transplanted. Martha Crone wrote in the April 1961 issue of The Fringed Gentian™ "The trees in May offer many lovely sights, but none finer than when in bloom, especially the wild cherries, plum and hawthorns."