Working towards adding more biodiversity, I ordered Shawnee Plum (Prunus munsoniana) from INDIGENOUS LANDSCAPES LLC:
"Shawnee Plum (Prunus munsoniana) was a widely cultivated native plant agricultural crop by Native People. This Native Plum's population and presence was also aided by Wolf, Coyote, Fox, and Bear dispersal who tend to swallow the fruit and seed together; passing the plum pits into their scat around the natural landscape. Native rodents then found scat deposits full of plum seeds which they would scatter hoard to split the pit and extract the almond-like kernel within. Being of the prunus genus, native plums are widely used by native moths/butterflies as host plants. The habitats they evolved within are native grasslands and savannas, as shade-intolerant species. Here, with other thicket species, they balance the early nectar and pollen resource of which the herbaceous layer of these communities produces little in the spring.
Because of the loss of native grasslands and savannas, primarily to corn/soy agriculture fed to livestock and for inefficient ethanol production; Shawnee Plum is now uncommon or rare within its native range. The historical and modern botanical understanding of Native Plums is limited, leading to under-reporting and mis-identification of native plum species. Since the range maps are based in botanist county records, range maps for native plum species aren't very reliable. Shawnee Plum likely has a larger native range than reported, where it has likely been misidentified as the widely reported, Common Plum - Prunus americana. This is to say, it likely exists outside of its reported range, if not yet overcome by invasive species and agricultural development."
I was also able to get two American plums from Monroe County's Identify and Reduce Invasive Species.
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| INDIGENOUS LANDSCAPES LLC |
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| INDIGENOUS LANDSCAPES LLC |
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| Blueberries, Fall Blackberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Shawnee plum |
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