Chickasaw plum

Prunus angustifolia

Thicket plum the Chickasaw tended; tart-sweet fruit for jam, early white bloom for bees.

Type: small tree · native and wild plants
Hardiness: zones 5 to 9
Light: full sun
Size: about 15 ft tall, 15 ft wide
Harvest: June to July
From: SE United States
Drought-hardy once established
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.

Good for: food, pollinators, wildlife.

Native to: Southeast, Great Plains & Texas, Midwest & Great Lakes. Hardy in zones 5 to 9.

The story

Chickasaw plum thickets were tended by the Chickasaw, Cherokee and Creek, who planted them around villages and dried the fruit; settlers found plum orchards already growing across the Southeast, and the thickets still mark old homesites and feed every bird in spring.

Planting

Full sun, any drained soil, even sand; plant two for pollination. A suckering 15-foot thicket; site it where that is welcome.

Growing

Water the first year, then nothing. Thin suckers or let it hedge. Prune only dead wood.

Harvest and use

Fruit ripens red to yellow in early summer; tart skin, sweet flesh. Eat fresh, or make jam and jelly.

What to watch for

Brown rot and black knot; plum curculio.

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More native and wild plants

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home