Picking Wild Plums 🍑🌳

Wild plums, Prunus americana and Prunus angustifolia, are an important food source for wildlife and can be found growing in forests, roadsides and fence lines throughout their native habitat. Humans benefit from these plums as well. The plums are eaten fresh and used in jellies and preserves, and are also consumed by many kinds of birds. They are beautiful ornamentals with large flowers and relatively big fruit, wild plums are also grown for erosion control, spreading by root sprouts and seeds.

Wild plums actually have a lot of traditional medicinal and food source uses. Native Americans actually gathered wild plums from their own cultivated orchards as well as in their native habitat. These plums were dried or made into sauces by Native Americans. Wild plum root and bark contain a compound called phloretin which is naturally antibacterial and was used to treat cuts. #wildplums #prunus