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Location: Maine

Fruit: very small - blue/purple, small, oblong

Blooms: small, white

Leaves: small

Tree:

more bush like - no single trunk, 4-5 main branches split off at base at ground 10' tall/wide round shape bark rough branches brittle reddish color to wood tree has appearance of apple tree, contorted, rough, brittle

Due to the small number of fruit produced (only around 10 each season), I'm thinking this can't be a self-pollinating tree, so that rules out most of the Japanese plums (I think, from what I've read).

I'd like to buy another one, so that they can pollinate each other, so any help would be appreciated.

plum tree plum plum size reference

Based on this picture alone (found on the interwebs) it looks like it could be a Beach Plum (although the beach plum appears to have a rounder fruit). Thoughts?

Beach plum

1 Answer 1

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There is so much genetic variation in the genus Prunus that each seed will produce a different tree and the only way to be sure of the outcome of the fruit is to grow clones from a mother plant. Based on the size of those fruits I'd say it's probably a seed grown individual and you won't find any like it. The good news, however, is that anything in the genus Prunus (apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines, almonds etc can potentially pollinate your tree as long as they are blooming around the same time, and bees will travel for miles to pollinate them in early spring. So what we can deduce from this is that if you live in an isolated or rural area where other plants in this genus are rare, you can boost pollination by planting anything from that genus that blooms around the same time (especially another plum.) If you live in a city, odds are there is plenty of pollen all over the place and the tree is not fruiting either because of environmental stresses, or just because that particular genetic individual is not a heavy fruit setter. Based on the apparent health of the tree and the size of those fruits, I would assume the latter.

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