Chinese plum

Prunus salicina grows up to 9–12 m (30–39 ft) tall, and its branches are purplish- to reddish-brown, and its lateral shoots are yellowish-red. The leaves are 6–12 cm long and 2.5–5 cm broad, with scalloped margins, which when young are often mixed with simple, gland-tipped teeth. The leaves' shapes tend to be oblong, though they sometimes vary to slightly more obovate (broader above the middle), narrowly elliptic, or in rare cases slightly ovate (broader half below the middle). The base of the leaf is wedge-shaped, and its apex ranges from acute (pointed) to caudate (having a slender, short tail). The upper side of the leaf is dark green and lustrous, and has six or seven secondary veins on either side of midvein, not extending to the leaf margin. The winter buds of P. salicina are purplish red and are rarely hairy at scale margins. The flowers are produced in early spring, around April, each about 2 cm in diameter with five white petals, and they grow in groups of three. The pedicel is 1.0–1.5 cm, and its sepals are oblong-ovate and about 5 mm, hairless on the outside, with loosely serrated margins. The sepal's apex is acute to obtuse. The petals of the flower are white and oblong-obovate, with a wedge-shaped base and a jagged margin near the apex. …

P. salicina is native to China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. In China, it grows in sparse forests, forest margins, thickets, along trails in mountains, and stream sides in valleys, at elevations of 200–2600 m. It grows best in temperate warmer regions, as it requires moderate temperatures and is usually early flowering. The domestication center of origin of P. salicina is southwestern China, from the Yangtze River Basin. Wild populations of this species are reported as thriving in the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. It is recorded as an introduced species in both Australia and Japan.

P. salicina is strongly dependent on endomycorrhizal relationships, similar to other species of plums. Ectomycorrhizal relationships with the fungus Hebeloma hiemale was shown to increase net growth in P. cerasifera x salicina, compared to chemical fertilizer, compost, and a control. The effects of the P. salicina in improving soil in karst areas in China have been mixed. A study conducted in Guiyang Karst Park, Guizhou, China, concluded that P. salicina, in combination with the moss species, Homomallium plagiangium, Cyrto-hypnum pygmaeuman, and Brachythecium perminusculum, and the herbs Veronica arvensis and Youngia japonica, were suitable pioneer plant species to cultivate for use in restoration of regions of karstic soil erosion. Planted on cropland suffering from rocky desertification, in the city of Hechi, P. salicina increased the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and the soil quality at the 10–20 cm soil layer, though in general, it had limited influence on soil improvement because of its fast growth and high output, increasing the absorption of nutrients from the soil.

Since P. salicina fruit has a short shelf-life (3–4 days) under room temperature, as well as cold storage (1–2 weeks), it is often prepared into jams, jellies, wine, and other beverages. Black pepper, coriander, cumin, clove, black cardamom, saffron, nutmeg, cinnamon, poppy seed, ginger, woodfordia, asparagus, withania, adhatoda, and rosemary have been reported to be used in preparing aromatized plum wine. The 'Santa Rosa' plum cultivar produces the best-quality wine, in comparison 'Methley', and 'Green Gage'. In China, candied fruits are also sold preserved, flavoured with sugar, salt, and liquorice. A study on foraging in the Gongba Valley (Zhouqu County in Gansu, China) identified P. salicina as one of the most commonly eaten wild fruits. Liquor made from P. salicina fruit is mixed with P. mume liquor, and oolong tea liquor to make a Japanese-style plum liquor, wumeijiu (smoked plum liquor), in Taiwan. In Japan, while it is less commonly eaten than closely related P. mume, it is pickled and colored in a similar manner. Especially in eastern Japan, many summer festivals sell pickled fruits covered in mizuame candy called anzuame (apricot candy, as apricots were traditionally used for the recipe). In both countries, it is also used half-ripe as a flavouring in a liqueur called sumomo shu (すもも酒) in Japanese.

The fruits are also used in Traditional Chinese medicine to enhance immunity against infectious agents and treat cancers. Japanese plums 'Crimson Globe' may be taken as a source of antioxidants with a potential to counteract oxidation. Prunus salicina fruit may contain immunostimulatory (stimulating the immune system by inducing activation or increasing activity) components that potentially may be useful in human and veterinary medicine. Compared to other fruits, Japanese plums include a reasonable source of fiber and proper source of bioactive compounds (such as vitamin C and phenolic composition). Their phenolic composition positively correlates to their antioxidant properties. A study evaluating ethanol extracts from 400 herbs found that the Japanese plum was the most effective Glucosyltransferase (GTF) inhibitor and showed the highest antibacterial activity. Research has been conducted into whether the fruit of the Japanese plum has cancer-protective effects because of its antioxidant properties, but as of 2023, the role antioxidants in general and in cancer protection and treatment is unclear.

The main producing country of Japanese plums is China, followed by the United States of America, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Pakistan, Korea, Australia, Chile, France, South Africa, and Argentina. The most famous variety of this fruit in Vietnam is the Tam Hoa plum grown in Bắc Hà town, in Lào Cai Province. Japanese cultivars were introduced into the United States in the latter half of the 19th century, where subsequent breeding produced many more cultivars, generally with larger fruit. Plant breeder Luther Burbank developed a number of cultivars by hybridizing P. salicina with P. simonii and other native North American diploid plums such as P. americana, P. hortulana, or P. munsoniana. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries from these hybridizations, Burbank selected cultivars such as 'Beauty', 'Eldorado', 'Formosa', 'Gaviota', 'Santa Rosa', 'Shiro', and 'Wickson', some of which are still widely grown. One of the famous cultivars, "Santa Rosa", named after the city in California. Most of the fresh plums sold in North American supermarkets are P. salicina cultivars or hybrids. They are grown on a large scale in a number of other countries, for example, they dominate the stone fruit industry in Western Australia. …