Common names:

• American plum  (Source: World Econ Pl) - English
• American red plum  (Source: Dict Gard) - English
• goose plum  (Source: Zander ed17) - English
• prunier américain  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• amerikanische Pflaume  (Source: Zander ed17) - German
• Amerikapflaume  (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
• ameixeira-americana  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Portuguese
• ciruelo americano  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• amerikanskt plommon  (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish

Economic Importance:

• Environmental: ornamental (fide Acta Hort 738:601. 2007)
• Human food: fruit (edible cultivars include hybrids fide Dict Gard)
• Gene sources: crop quality for Japanese plum (fide Temp Fruit Cr Breed 351-352. 2008)
• Gene sources: graft stock relative for apricot (fide Acta Hort 862:413-418. 2010)
• Gene sources: graft stock relative for plum (fide Breed Pl Tree Crops 214. 2009)
• Gene sources: secondary genetic relative of Japanese plum (based on hybrids with P. salicina used for plum improvement fide Acta Hort 577:181-186. 2002; Acta Hort 622:473. 2003, some cultivars might not be derived from P. americana)
• Gene sources: secondary genetic relative of myrobalan plum (based on affinities to diploid Prunus cerasifera fide Mol Phylogenet Evol 76:43. 2014)
• Gene sources: tertiary genetic relative of apricot (based on affinities to Prunus armeniaca fide Mol Phylogenet Evol 76:44, 45. 2014)
• Gene sources: tertiary genetic relative of peach (based on hybridization records "forming mostly sterile hybrids" fide Temp Fruit Cr Breed 267. 2008)
• Gene sources: tertiary genetic relative of plum (fide Breed Pl Tree Crops 175. 2009)

Distributional Range:

Native

Northern America

• EASTERN CANADA: Canada [New Brunswick, Ontario (s.), Quebec]
• WESTERN CANADA: Canada [Manitoba (s.), Saskatchewan (s.e.)]
• NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia]
• NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma (http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/shrub/prun-ame.htm), South Dakota, Wisconsin]
• NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming]
• SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida (n.), Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee (http://tenn.bio.utk.edu/vascular/database/vascular-database.asp?CategoryID=Dicots&FamilyID=Rosaceae&GenusID=Prunus&SpeciesID=americana), Virginia, District of Columbia]
• SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [New Mexico]
• SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Utah]


Cultivated (also cult.)

References:

1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource on www.skud.info). 2012 (Kulturvaxtdatabas)
2. Chin, S.-W. et al. 2014. Diversification of almonds, peaches, plums and cherries - Molecular systematics and biogeographic history of Prunus (Rosaceae) Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 76:34-48.
3. Erhardt, W. et al. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage. 2002 (Zander ed17)
4. Hancock, J. F. et al. 2008. Chapter 9. Peaches (Temp Fruit Cr Breed) 265-298.
5. Harrington, H. Manual of the plants of Colorado. 1954 (F Colo)
6. Hartmann, W. & M. Neumüller 2009. Plum breeding (Breed Pl Tree Crops) 161-231.
7. Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992 (Dict Gard)
8. Jänes, H. & A. Pae 2002. Cherry plum hybrid cultivars in Estonia Acta Hort. 577:181-186
9. Jones, G. N. & G. D. Fuller Vascular plants of Illinois. 1955 (F IllJones)
10. Kalinina, A. et al. 2007. Susceptibility of ornamental Prunus to plum pox potyvirus infection Acta Hort. 738:601-605.
11. Little, E. L., Jr. Checklist of United States trees, Agric. Handb. 541. 1979 (Trees US)
12. Martin, W. C. & C. R. Hutchins A flora of New Mexico. (F New Mex)
13. McGregor, R. L. et al. (The Great Plains Flora Association) Flora of the Great Plains. (F GPlains)
14. Okie, W. R. & J. F. Hancock 2008. Chapter 11. Plums (Temp Fruit Cr Breed) 337-357.
15. Radford, A. E. et al. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. (F Carolin)
16. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994 (Dict Rehm)
17. Rohrer, J. R. 2011. Prunus (Rosaceae) (F NAmer) 9: in press.
18. Scoggan, H. J. The flora of Canada, 4 vol. 1978-1979 (F Canada)
19. Shaw, J. & R. L. Small 2004. Addressing the "hardest puzzle in American pomology:" Phylogeny of Prunus sect. Prunocerasus (Rosaceae) based on seven noncoding chloroplast DNA regions Amer. J. Bot. 91:985-996.
20. Shaw, J. & R. L. Small 2005. Chloroplast DNA phylogeny and phylogeography of the North American plums (Prunus subgenus Prunus section Prunocerasus, Rosaceae) Amer. J. Bot. 92:2011-2030.
21. Stanica, F. et al. 2010. Propagation by green cuttings of some new promising Romanian Prunus rootstocks Acta Hort. 862:413-418.
22. Steyermark, J. A. Flora of Missouri. (F Missouri)
23. Wetter, M. A. et al. WISFLORA: Wisconsin vascular plant species (on-line resource). (F Wisconsin)
24. Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource). (Atlas Florida)

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://germoplasma.iniaf.gob.bo/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=29831. Accessed 7 junio 2026.