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Native Plant Database

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Prunus minutiflora (Dwarf plum)
Carr, Bill

Prunus minutiflora Engelm.

Dwarf Plum, Texas almond

Rosaceae (Rose Family)

USDA Symbol: PRMI2

USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Shrub up to 3 feet tall, often thicket forming, bark gray, new growth on branchlets covered with woolly hairs. Leaves up to 3/4 inch long, firm textured, oblong to elliptic, with margins usually without teeth, a rounded, sometimes pointed, tip, and gradually tapered base. Flowers small, white, on short spurs, appearing in March with the leaves. Fruit spherical, about 1/2 inch long, fleshy but mostly pit, black when ripe. On soils underlain with limestone and on limestone slopes and ledges.

 

From the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Size Notes: 1-3
Fruit:
Size Class: 1-3 ft.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Mar

Distribution

USA: TX
Native Habitat: Endemic to the Edwards Plateau where it is only infrequently found. Soils underlain with limestone or on limestone slopes and ledges.
USDA Native Status: L48(N)

Growing Conditions

Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Dry
Conditions Comments: Could be used as an ornamental or woody ground cover for dry rocky sites. Good wildlife plant. Susceptible to web worm.

Benefit

Use Ornamental: Attractive, Aromatic, Showy, Fall conspicuous, Accent tree or shrub
Use Wildlife: Plums attract birds. Nectar-bees, Fruit-birds, Fruit-mammals
Warning: The seeds of all Prunus species, found inside the fruits, contain poisonous substances and should never be eaten. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.
Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Deer Resistant: High

Value to Beneficial Insects

Special Value to Native Bees

This information was provided by the Pollinator Program at The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is either on display or available from the following:

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Austin, TX
Texas Discovery Gardens - Dallas, TX
NPSOT - Austin Chapter - Austin, TX

Bibliography

Bibref 354 - Native & Naturalized Woody Plants of Austin & the Hill Country (1981) Lynch, D.
Bibref 286 - Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country (1989) Enquist, M.

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Recommended Species Lists

Find native plant species by state. Each list contains commercially available species suitable for gardens and planned landscapes. Once you have selected a collection, you can browse the collection or search within it using the combination search.

View Recommended Species page

Additional resources

USDA: Find Prunus minutiflora in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Prunus minutiflora in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Prunus minutiflora

Metadata

Record Modified: 2007-12-13
Research By: NPC

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