Indian Plum                                    

Oemleria cerasiformis

Pronouned ohm-LAIR-ee-uh  sir-ASS-ih-form-iss. It is named after Augustus Gottlieb Oemler (1773-1852), a German naturalist from Savannah, Georgia, who was the first to collect the species.  Cerasiformis means cherry-shaped.  Osm- is a Greek root meaning “smelly;” aronia is the genus of chokeberries.   Other common names include Osoberry, Oregon Plum, Squaw Plum, Indian Peach, Bird Cherry, and Skunkbush.

Indian Plum bears a stone fruit or drupe similar to fruits in the related genus, Prunus which includes plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, and almonds.

Indian Plum grows 4.5-20 feet (1.5-7m)

Its leaves are bright green in spring, lance-shaped, and entire (not toothed); and smell like cucumber when crushed.  Small, five-lobed flowers are born in drooping clusters, usually appearing before the leaves.  Each flower is white with a green calyx. They are said to have an unusual fragrance “something between watermelon rind and cat urine.”  Others compare it to almonds. 

 The fruit are like small plums.  Immature fruit is peach-colored, mature fruit is purple or bluish-black.  Since Indian Plum is dioecious, you need to a have a female plant with nearby males for it to bear fruit.  In natural populations, there are usually more males than females, due to a higher mortality of females.  Males often flower at an earlier age than females; females have a slower growth rate.

 No other native shrub ushers in spring as splendidly as Indian Plum with its cheerful greenish-white flower clusters and spring green foliage.  Its graceful, arching branches are prettiest in the shade of alders and maple.  Later in the summer it is not as distinctive, blending in with other shrubs, appearing somewhat like a willow. 

 Indian Plums were eaten in small quantities fresh, cooked, or dried by Native Americans.  Flavor of unripe fruit is bitter and astringent, but they become more palatable when they are fully ripe.  Natives also used the twigs and bark for various medicinal uses.  Leaves, seeds and even fruit may contain small quantities of hydrogen cyanide, and should therefore only be consumed in small quantities.

Indian Plums are highly attractive to birds such as cedar waxwings and are also eaten by mammals.  Flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds, butterflies, native bees and other insects.