The Chronicles Of Grant County

Plum Street
Deming

Plum trees in Yuba City, California. (The photograph was produced by Lance Cheung and provided courtesy of the USDA, August 28, 2015.)

Plum Street in Deming gets its name from the plum tree.

There are several varieties of plum trees and shrubs producing different types of this fruit in the United States.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), one of those varieties, the American plum, can reach heights of 15 feet; this particular variety can be found growing on large shrubs or small trees found throughout the eastern two-thirds of the U S.

The Federal agency indicated that the American plum grows in prairies, woodlands, pastures, and along roadsides and riverbanks. This tree is "…winter-hardy, but intolerant of shade and drought; it requires the equivalent of 22 to 25 inches of precipitation."

The American plum "…is highly important as wildlife cover and food," according to a statement from the USDA. "The thorny, suckering growth, when protected, forms a thicket valuable for bird nesting, loafing, and roosting, and animal loafing and bedding."

"Fruits are red to yellow, almost globular edible plums about one inch in diameter," the statement from the USDA continued. "Flowers are white, five-petaled, about one inch across, and borne singly or in clusters at the juncture of a stem and leaf. Leaves are alternate, broadly oval in shape with a sharply tapering tip, and sharply, often doubly toothed edges; they are generally two to four inches long on slender stalks, dark green above, pale and smooth below. The plant's numerous stems are grayish and become scaly with age; its branches are more or less spiny with sharp-tipped twigs. The roots of American plum are shallow, widely spreading, and readily sprouting."

Wild plum is another variety of this species. New Mexico is among the places this variety grows in the U S.

"The fruit [of the wild plum] is eaten by many species of birds, including bobwhite quail," noted the USDA. "White-tailed deer, raccoons, and squirrels eat the fruits. The fruit makes excellent jellies and preserves, or may be eaten raw or cooked."

China is the largest producer of plums in the world, according to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 2022, other countries in the top ten of nations producing plums were Romania, Serbia, Chile, Türkiye, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the U S, Russia, and Italy.

The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center of the USDA indicated that the two main commercial types of plums in the U S are the European plum and the Japanese plum.

"In 2021 the United States produced 80,660 tons of fresh plums, down 17 percent from 2020," according to information from the National Agricultural Statistics Service of USDA for 2022; this report was issued in early 2024. "These plums were grown from 12,800 acres. The total value of the crop was $91.7 million. The United States also produced 71,110 tons of prunes (dried plums) from 37,000 acres."

A report issued by the Economic Research Service of the USDA in 2021 indicated that Chile provided "…nearly all of the imported plums to the United States, accounting for 91 percent of the total. In the 2021/2022 market year, the United States imported $18 million worth of dried plums and $41.5 million worth of fresh plums."

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