All plants /Shrub /Chickasaw Plum
Chickasaw Plum
Prunus angustifolia, rose family. Common in East and Central Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Small red-yellow plums
- How
- Raw, jelly, sauce
- When
- Early summer
- Where
- Thickets, roadsides, old fields
- Value
- Sugars, vitamin C
Caution: Flesh only; discard cracked pits (cyanide-forming compounds). Never eat a wild plant on this guide's word alone. Confirm identity against several sources and learn the look-alikes first.
Harvesting
Chickasaw plums grow in dense sun-loving thickets that turn red in June. The fruit is smaller than a Mexican plum but sweeter when fully ripe.
In the kitchen
Their high pectin makes them a jelly-maker's favorite: they set firm with little help.
Photo: Lm13700, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Forages well with
Forage safely. Never eat a wild plant on this site's word alone. Confirm identity with several sources, learn the look-alikes, and when in doubt, leave it in the ground.