Japanese plum

American  

noun

1. a small tree, Prunus salicina, native to China, bearing edible yellowish fruit.

2. a related shrub, P. japonica, native to China and Korea, having pink flowers and edible red fruit.

3. the fruit of either of these.

4. loquat.

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Etymology

Origin of Japanese plum

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Taki even grows a small number of ume plums, used to make Japanese plum wine and “umeboshi” salted plums.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 12, 2021

Shiro is a variety of Japanese plum, and hence its growth habit is quite different from that of European plums.

From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2017

Instead of growing upright, most Japanese plum trees grow outward, though it’s rare to see one go to such lengths as Chip’s, obviously happy on a gentle, sun-facing slope.

From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2017

You need another Japanese plum that blooms at the same time to pollinate your tree.

From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2017

The valuable new plums from the Minnesota Experiment Station resulted from crossing the native American plum, Prunus americana with the Japanese plum, P. salicina.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Report Wooster, Ohio, September 3, 4, 5, 1946 by Northern Nut Growers Association