I had never seen an Allegheny plum until about 10 years ago when I stumbled across a tree on my Monroe County, West Virginia, land. Since then, I’ve found only a few other Prunus alleghaniensis, as they don’t seem to be widespread in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In fact in our region, this native tree only exists in the two Virginias as well as Tennessee and North Carolina.
That’s too bad because the plum is a fascinating understory tree that has great value to wildlife, especially mammals. The trees themselves top out at between 10 and 15 feet, and the ones I’ve found in Virginia and West Virginia grow along small streams and fence rows. These small trees or shrubs sometimes form dense thickets – ideal habitat for rabbits, grouse and many ground dwelling/nesting songbirds. The toothed leaves are ovate-shaped and about three inches long while the dark bark is plated or ridged.
Of course, the ½-inch wide,1-inch long reddish-purple fruits are the main feature. They can be eaten right from the tree as the fleshy orbs are quite tasty and can also be made into jam. I’ve become so enamored with this flora that I’ve planted two trees on Elaine’s and my Botetourt County, Virginia, land for wildlife and, well, perhaps a future pie for us.
Bruce and Elaine Ingram will profile a different wild edible every month. For more information on their book Living the Locavore Lifestyle, contact them at bruceingramoutdoors@gmail.com.
