Prunus maritima

Prunus maritima, the beach plum,[2] is a species of plum native to the East Coast of the United States, from Maine south to Maryland.[3][4] Although sometimes listed as extending to New Brunswick, the species is not known from collections there, and does not appear in the most authoritative works on the flora of that Canadian province.[5]

Prunus maritima
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus
Subgenus: Prunus subg. Prunus
Section: Prunus sect. Prunocerasus
Species:
P. maritima
Binomial name
Prunus maritima
Synonyms[1]
  • Prunus acuminata Hook.f.
  • Prunus acuminata Michx.
  • Prunus gravesii Small
  • Prunus maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson
  • Prunus declinata Marsh.
  • Prunus lancifolia Clav.
  • Prunus littoralis Bigel.
  • Prunus poiretiana Heynh.
  • Prunus pubescens Pursh
  • Prunus pygmaea Willd.
  • Prunus reclinata Bosc ex Spach
  • Prunus sphaerica Willd.

Prunus maritima is a deciduous shrub, in its natural sand dune habitat growing 1–2 m (40–80 inches) high, although it can grow larger, up to 4 m (160 inches or over 13 feet) tall, when cultivated in gardens. The leaves are alternate, elliptical, 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 inches) long and 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 inches) broad, with a sharply toothed margin. They are green on top and pale below, becoming showy red or orange in the autumn. The flowers are 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 inches) in diameter, with five white petals and large yellow anthers. The fruit is an edible drupe 1.5–2 cm (0.6–0.8 inches) in diameter in the wild plant, red, yellow, blue, or nearly black.[6][7]

A plant with rounded leaves, of which only a single specimen has ever been found in the wild, has been described as Prunus maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson,[8] though its taxonomic status is questionable, and it may be better considered a cultivar Prunus maritima 'Gravesii'.[9] The original plant, found in Connecticut, died in the wild in about 2000, but it is maintained in cultivation from rooted cuttings.[8]

The plant is salt-tolerant and cold-hardy. It prefers the full sun and well-drained soil. It spreads roots by putting out suckers but in coarse soil puts down a tap root. In dunes it is often partly buried in drifting sand. It blooms in mid-May and June. The fruit ripens in August and early September.

The species is endangered in Maine, where it is in serious decline due to commercial development of its beach habitats.[6]

Cultivation and uses

The species is grown commercially to make jam.[10] Although it is bitter or sour it can be eaten out of hand. Beach plums are much smaller in size when compared to the longer cultivated Asian varieties found in the supermarket. A number of cultivars have been selected for larger and better flavored fruit, including Resigno, Eastham, Hancock and Squibnocket.[11]

Natali Vineyards in Goshen, New Jersey produces a wine from beach plums.[12] Greenhook Ginsmiths in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York makes a gin flavored with beach plums.[13]

Nomenclature

The species was first described by Marshall in 1785 as Prunus maritima, the "Sea side Plumb".[14] A few sources cite Wangenheim as the author,[15] though Wangenheim's publication dates to 1787, two years later than Marshall's.

Plum Island, Massachusetts, and Plum Island, New York, are named after the beach plum; as are Plum Cove Beach in Lanesville, Gloucester, Massachusetts; and Beach Plum Island State Park in Sussex County, Delaware.

  • Ripe beach plums at the North Beach area of Sandy Hook, New Jersey
  • Beach plum blooms at Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts
  • Resigno Cultivar in Philadelphia garden, Pennsylvania
  • Beach plums in early stages of bloom

References
  1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  2. "Prunus maritima". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  3. "Prunus maritima". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  4. United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile: Prunus maritima
  5. Hinds, Harold R., 2002, Flora of New Brunswick, 2nd ed., Fredericton, New Brunswick.
  6. Maine Department of Conservation Natural Areas Program: Archived 2012-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
  8. Center for Plant Conservation: Prunus maritima var. gravesii Archived 2009-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
  9. University of Connecticut: Prunus maritima 'Gravesii' Archived 2007-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Cornell University Department of Horticulture: Beach Plum
  11. University of Connecticut: Prunus maritima Archived 2007-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Preston, Marjorie. "To save coastal dunes, here’s a plum good idea" in Shore News Today (20 October 2010). Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  13. Greenhook Ginsmiths. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  14. Marshall, H. (1785). Arbustrum Americanum: The American Grove, Or, An Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, Natives of the American United States, Arranged According to the Linnaean System, p. 112. Joseph Crukshank, Philadelphia.
  15. Grier, N. M., & Grier, C. R. (1929). A List of Plants Growing Under Cultivation in the Vicinity of Cold Spring Harbor, New York. American Midland Naturalist 11: 307–387.

Further reading
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