MEXICAN PLUM
Prunus mexicana S. Wats.
This common wild plum is a small tree reaching 20 to 25 feet in height and 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Uncommonly it attains only large shrub size.
The [BARK] is dark, varying from gray to nearly black. There are curling [scales] on young branches but on old trunks the bark becomes rough and deeply furrowed.
MEXICAN PLUM (Leaf, three-fourths natural size; flowers and [fruit], one-half natural size)
The LEAVES, when mature, are [alternate], [oval], abruptly pointed, finely and doubly toothed along the margin, dark yellow-green, smooth and shiny, thick and firm, 2 to 3 inches long by 1 to 2 inches wide, narrowed or rounded at the base and prominently veined on both surfaces.
The white FLOWERS appear in numerous small clusters in March before the leaves. With a profusion of flowers, this tree is one of the delights of early spring in the woods. The [FRUIT], or plum, which ripens in late summer, is dark purple-red color with a bluish “[bloom]”, about 1¼ inches in diameter, and varies widely in its palatability. The stone is about ¾ inch long, and smooth. The dorsal edge is ridged; the ventral edge grooved.
This species of plum does not [sucker] to form thickets, is drought resistant, and has been used for grafting stock for the production of commercial plums.
FLATWOODS PLUM (Black Sloe)
Prunus umbellata Ell.
This shrub or small tree with a short, often crooked, or inclining trunk and a flat-topped head and slender branches is rarely over 20 feet high. Branchlets at first covered with a dense, pale pubescence, soon become smooth and bright red during the first year and dull dark brown the second year. It occurs throughout the eastern portion of the state.