Prunus mexicana, commonly known as the Mexican plum, Inch plum, and Bigtree plum,[1] is a North American species of plum tree that can be found in the central United States and Northern Mexico.
Prunus mexicana has a single trunk, an open crown, and reaches a height of 15feet-38feetft (-ft). It has dark green, simple ovate leaves 2inches-4.5inchesin (-in) long and 1.25inches-2inchesin (-in) wide. In the early spring it is covered with five-petaled fragrant white or pale pink flowers 0.75inches-1inchesin (-in) wide. Its dark gray bark is banded with horizontal lenticels.[2] The dark red or purple fruit ripens late in the fall.[3] [4]
Prunus mexicana is very similar to Prunus americana, and they intergrade along a broad contact zone centered around Arkansas and Missouri. These intermediate individuals may be impossible to assign to a specific species.[5]
Prunus mexicana is included in the section Prunocerasus.[6]
The native range of the species stretches from South Dakota east to Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia, and south to the Mexican states of Coahuila and San Luis Potosí.[7]
It is usually found on woodland edges or in open fields. It is adaptable to a wide range of soil pH and is drought-tolerant. The trees are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 5 to 9.
The fruit is eaten fresh by both mammals and birds.
The fruit is made into preserves, and the tree can serve as a rootstock for grafting on other plum cultivars.
