| Author | Marshall | |
| Distribution | Present over essentially all of the Mountains and Piedmont; also recorded from a few counties in the Coastal Plain. Occurrences in the Coastal Plain may represent escapes or misidentifications, though VA and SC have many county records for this province.
This is a very widespread species, ranging across southern Canada south to central FL and AZ. Hardly any state lacks a record. | |
| Abundance | Generally infrequent, to at best fairly common, in the Mountains and Piedmont, but scarce in some areas; not nearly as common as P. serotina or P. angustifolia. Most widespread in the southern Mountains and eastern Piedmont. Though recorded far into the lower Coastal Plain in both VA and SC, for some odd reason it is practically absent in the NC Coastal Plain. | |
| Habitat | This species is primarily found in mesic, often circumneutral soils. Usually it is found along borders of hardwood forests and woodlots, or along hedgerows. It may occur in bottomlands, but it is not typically found in the deep shade of forest interiors; it favors partial sun conditions. |
| Phenology | Blooms generally before the leaves emerge, in March and April; fruits in July and August. | |
| Identification | This is a large deciduous shrub or small and stocky tree, growing to about 25 feet tall, but usually smaller. It often grows in thickets, but not nearly as much as does P. angustifolia. The leaves are serrate and elliptic, larger or wider than other plums in the state, often 3-4 inches long; the tips are acuminate, and thus the leaves have a somewhat distinctive shape from other plums. Nonetheless, plums tend to have “normal-looking” leaves without distinctive characters, and many observers will need non-leaf characters to identify this species. Normally one notices this species, and other plums, when in bloom along a wooded margin or hedgerow, but can easily overlook them at other seasons. The white flowers are about 3/4-inch across. The fruit is red to yellow, and averages about 3/4-1 inch across. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | There are no taxonomic issues as a species, but it is often considered to have several varieties – P. americana var. americana and the scarce P. americana var. lanata (RAB 1968). However, Weakley (2018) and NatureServe do not assign varieties to this species.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Wild Plum, American Wild Plum | |
| State Rank | S3 [S4S5] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | UPL link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
