# Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana)

> A single-trunked wild plum that does not sucker, with fragrant white bloom before the leaves and purple plums for eating fresh or for jelly.

Also called bigtree plum, inch plum. Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mexican-plum/

![Mexican plum (Prunus mexicana) single-trunked tree starting to bloom white at the edge of a grassy woodland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/mexican-plum-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMexican_Plum_Palmetto_State_Park_Texas_2023.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 10 to 35 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8
- Grows wild in: Floodplain forests, stream banks, old fields and edges
- Native range: 17 states, north and west to South Dakota and south to Louisiana (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas). Also recorded in 3 other states, outside its native range
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Showy flowers, Edible, Wildlife value, Drought tolerant, Fall color
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Mexican plum is a wild plum of the central and southern states, from Indiana, Illinois and Iowa south to Alabama, Texas and northeastern Mexico. Unlike most native plums, it grows as a single-trunked tree and does not sucker into a thicket. That habit made it a common rootstock for grafting cultivated plums. Its bark turns a satiny blue-gray with darker horizontal streaks as it ages, and its fall leaves turn yellow, sometimes orange and red. Plant it as a flowering fruit tree for a yard or a woodland edge, where a suckering plum would be a nuisance.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Mexican plum grows into a small tree of 10 to 35 feet, most often 15 to 25 feet, with a spreading crown about as wide. No source rates its speed, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, a foot and a half a year.

White flowers open in March and April, before the leaves. They are fragrant and up to an inch across. The plums ripen from August into October, about an inch across and purplish red to dark blue under a gray bloom. Birds and mammals eat them, and the leaves feed the caterpillars of the tiger swallowtail and the cecropia moth.

It grows in stream bottoms, open woods and woodland edges, and on fencerows and well-drained prairies in Texas. Records from states far from its true range, such as North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, are often hairy American plums filed under this name.

## How to grow Mexican Plum

Mexican plum grows in full sun or part shade. It takes almost any well-drained soil, from sand to clay, including soil over limestone. Once rooted it rides out drought. The ripe plums drop and make a mess, so keep it away from patios, decks and walks. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and at least 15 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 20 feet apart.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the trunk. Clean the pits and keep them damp, since dried seed soon dies. Sow them in fall an inch deep under hardware cloth. For spring, keep them damp and warm for one to two months, then chill them in the refrigerator for two to three months.

Water weekly through the first summer, then only in a long drought. Deer browse it, and rabbits and voles gnaw the young bark, so guard each sapling with wire for its first two or three years. Prune in late winter, and only to remove dead, broken or crossing branches.

Plums need pollen from a second plum to set fruit, so plant two or more from different seed. It has no serious insect or disease problems. A clean crop of plums for the table may need spraying.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 9: Prunus mexicana](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242417058)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Prunus mexicana](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PRME)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Prunus mexicana](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=286449)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: Mexican plum](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=919)
- [Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Native Plants Database: Mexican Plum](https://web.archive.org/web/20241006141937/https://aggie-hort.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/PRUNUSMEXICANA.HTM)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Prunus mexicana](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151774/Prunus_mexicana)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Prunus chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Prunus.pdf)
- [USDA PLANTS: Prunus mexicana, PRME](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/PRME)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md)
- [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Mexican Plum, add ?species=mexican-plum with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=mexican-plum&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Mexican Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=mexican-plum): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=mexican-plum
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Mexican Plum is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=mexican-plum
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Mexican Plum needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=mexican-plum:2
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Mexican Plum flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.