Prunus angustifolia (Chickasaw Plum)

Chickasaw Plum is an early bloomer featuring sweet-scented white flowers. Blooms are followed by fruit that can be eaten fresh or used in baking. Birds and mammals eat the fruit. Various insects visit the flowers. It provides cover and nesting sites for wildlife, including northern bobwhite, painted bunting, Bell's vireo, brown thrasher and loggerhead shrike. It is important to lesser prairie-chickens for resting, escape, and thermal cover. Foliage turns pale yellow in the fall. 

Chickasaw Plum grows in almost any soil, except strongly alkaline. It occurs naturally on sandy soils, but will perform well when planted on heavier clay-loam soils. Although partially shade tolerant, it performs best in full sun. The plums are drought tolerant and require little maintenance once established. Young plants should be protected from herbivores such as rabbits, deer, and cattle. 

In full sun Chickasaw Plum grows dense and colonizes thickly; in the dappled shade of a woodland’s edge it is more open and airy in appearance and will colonize more loosely. Plant it where it has room to naturalize and it will ask for almost nothing in return. 

Chicaksaw Plum makes a great corner accent to a wildlife habitat backyard. May be used in shrub borders. It is an attractive, aromatic thicket plum for landscape restorations and shelter belt plantings. It also provides effective erosion control along stream banks.