Sumomo

Prunus salicina
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Subfamily:	Amygdaloideae
Genus:	Prunus
Subgenus:	Prunus
Section:	Prunus
Species:	P. salicina
Binomial name
Prunus salicina Lindl.
Synonyms
Prunus triflora, Prunus thibetica

Prunus triflora, Prunus thibetica

Prunus salicina (syn. Prunus triflora or Prunus thibetica), commonly called the plum, is a small deciduous tree native to China. It is now also grown in fruit orchards in Korea, Japan, the United States, and Australia.

Prunus salicina should not be confused with the Prunus mume, a related species of plum also grown in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Another tree, Prunus japonica, is also a separate species despite having a Latin name similar to Prunus salicina's common name. Plant breeder Luther Burbank devoted a lot of work to hybridizing this species with the Japanese plum (Prunus salicina) and developed a number of cultivars from the hybrid.

Prunus salicina grows up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall, and has reddish-brown shoots. The leaves are 6-12 cm long and 2.5-5 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in early spring, 2 cm diameter with five white petals.

The fruit is a drupe 4-7 cm in diameter with yellow-pink flesh; it can be harvested in the summer. When fully ripe it can be eaten raw.

In China, candied fruits are also sold preserved, flavoured with sugar, salt, and liquorice. In Japan, it is also used half ripe as a flavouring in a liqueur called sumomo shu (すもも酒),^photo and in China a liquor is made from the fruits.[1]. For other uses of this and similar species see plum.

The fruits are also used in Traditional Chinese medicine. Japanese plums cv. Crimson Globe may be taken as a source of antioxidants with a potential to counteract oxidation.

The species name is derived from the Latin word for willow.[2]

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