From Eat the Weeds
and other things, too
by Green Deane
Chickasaw Plum:Yum
Prunus angustifolia
Ripe Chickasaw Plums, locally in May and June
Chickasaw Plum: First Springtime Blossom
Every
spring, three wild plums put on a show locally: The Chickasaw, the
Flatwood, and the American. They burst out in white blossoms and no
leaves.
When in naked bloom they look similar but that’s where the
resemblance stops. The Chickasaw and the American go on to produce
consistently edible plums whereas the Flatwood’s fruit can range from
extremely bitter to sweet. Telling these plums apart before they fruit
is a bit of a guessing game.
Five petals and many stamen
If
you have skinny leaves it is either the Chickasaw or Flatwood. If the
tips of the teeth on the leaves have yellow or red glands (you’ll need
a hand lens) it is the Chickasaw, otherwise the Flatwood. If you have
fat leaves with a strong pointed tip, it’s the American though it is
not common here. Locally the fruit of the Chickasaw (Prunus angustifolia) ripens to a sweet red in the spring and is gone by early July. It often forms a thicket.
In spring the tree is all white flowers and no leaves
The Flatwood (Prunus umbellata) which often stands alone, ripens to black or yellow and can be around through the summer into the fall. The American (Prunus americana)
tends to fruit in late summer to early fall and has red fruit. The
fruit of the Flatwood often remains amazingly bitter and hard even
after months on the tree. Settlers used it to make jellies or fed it to
livestock, hence its other common name, Hog Plum though there are
several “hog” plums. Native Americans and settlers, however, regularly
ate of the American and Chickasaw plums, the latter developing very
sweet fruit with a tang. The first foragers used the plums fresh and
dried for winter use. Some tribes took out the seed kernels, others
didn’t. Let’s talk about that.
The tips of the teeth will be either red or yellow if a Chickasaw Plum
Liberated
from their shells the sunflower-sized kernels of these plums can create
cyanide in your gut. Very small amounts don’t bother us but we are not
talking about small amounts. Natives would make cakes out of the kernel
mash. Letting the cakes set for a day or so allowed enzymes to work on
those chemicals as did subsequent cooking, making the cake edible… or
at least that is the explanation experts give. That strikes me as a lot
of work for such a small amount of food that’s potentially
toxic. That said they could have been a treat, a flavoring, an
essential macro nutriment — oil — to make them worthwhile or a
micro-nutriment. Calories are not the only reason to forage.
In
the 1800’s there was great interest in making cultivars out of native
plums and by 1901 there were over 300 of them. But mechanization of
fruit production in the early 1900’s led growers away from the native
varieties though there has been some interest of late to use the native
plums again as a high-value specialty crop.
Besides man the
Chickasaw Plum’s fruit is eaten by deer, bear, fox and raccoon. The
thorny thicket is valuable for songbird and game bird nesting including
the bobwhite and mockingbird. It also makes a good wind break and can
be used for erosion control. The plum, extensively used, was taken
everywhere by the Chickasaw Indians and it has many local names. While
usable, the Flatwood Plum, is not prime foraging food. Its quality can
vary from tree to tree, rarely rising to the gustatory level of the
Chickasaw Plum. The American Plum was also used by the natives.
The skinny leave has a trough down the middle
The Chickasaw Plum is one of my favorite trail and yard nibbles. As to its botanical name Prunus angustifolia.
Prunus (PROO-nus) is the Roman name for the plum. Angustifolia
(an-gus-tee-FOH-lee-uh) means skinny leaf (see photo directly above.)
Umbellata (um-bell-LAY-ta) means like an umbrella for its shape.
Americana (ah-mare-ree-KAY-na) means American. “Chickasaw” is
Choctaw for “old” and “reside” or as we might say in English, “the old
place.” Incidentally, the Chickasaw Plum is native to Texas and
Oklahoma but is naturalized through much of the United States where
there are sufficient winter chill hours, such as central Florida north.
The
Chickasaw plum and the American plum are closely related and hybridize
easily. That means… yep, you guessed it. You can find plums in the wild
which display some characteristics of each and can be impossible to
identify.
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
Identification:
Chickasaw Plum: Small thorny tree to 25 feet, usually much smaller,
flower small, under half an inch, 5 white petals, fragrant; reddish
orange anthers, appear in clumps in early spring before the leaves,
fruit bright yellow to red, round to oval, 1/3 to 1/2 inch in diameter,
flesh juicy small plum, bark first smooth and reddish then with
numerous elongated light horizontal hash marks. The leaf has a
center trough. The teeth have yellow or red glands on the tip.
Some times the fruit can stay green yet ripens to sweet.
Time of year:
Late spring in Florida, late summer farther north, usually around
September. Locally the Chickasaw Plum is done fruiting long before the
4th of July. The Flatwood Plum can have fruit persisting into the fall.
Environment:
The Chickasaw forms thickets in open areas, any open space in scrub
forest, sandy soil, roadsides, fences, prairies, Pennsylvania west to
the Rockies, south south to Central Florida, also California. Easily
transplanted or grown from seed. It requires some chilling so won’t
grow in South Florida and similar climates. The Flatwood is often a
stand alone.
Method of preparation:
Chickasaw: Cherry-size plum, out of hand or for jelly, pies, preserves
and wine. It makes a tart, bright red jelly. The Flatwood was used
to make jellies or to add to other jellies. It is usually too sour and
hard to eat out of hand.
Green Deane's
Disclaimer
Information
contained on this website is strictly and categorically intended as a
reference to be used in conjunction with experts in your area. Foraging
should never begin without the guidance and approval of a local plant
specialist. The providers of this website accept no liability for the
use or misuse of information contained in this website.
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