Tree · Rosaceae
American plum
Prunus americana
American plum is recorded as native to 40 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,204 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American plum at a glance
- Native in
- 1,204 counties, across 40 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 24 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American plum is recorded as native to 40 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,204 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,204 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 29 counties
- Arkansas 35 counties
- Colorado 13 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 12 counties
- Georgia 21 counties
- Illinois 88 counties
- Indiana 47 counties
- Kansas 86 counties
- Kentucky 98 counties
- Louisiana 31 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 31 counties
- Minnesota 59 counties
- Mississippi 12 counties
- Missouri 52 counties
- Montana 13 counties
- Nebraska 52 counties
- New Hampshire 3 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New Mexico 12 counties
- New York 20 counties
- North Carolina 23 counties
- North Dakota 37 counties
- Ohio 87 counties
- Oklahoma 21 counties
- Pennsylvania 59 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 10 counties
- South Dakota 38 counties
- Tennessee 47 counties
- Utah 9 counties
- Vermont 2 counties
- Virginia 41 counties
- Washington 1 county
- West Virginia 29 counties
- Wisconsin 46 counties
- Wyoming 8 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 24 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 40 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PRAM
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Prunus americana (PLANTS symbol PRAM).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources