Prunus salicina
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| Prunus salicina Lindl. |
Prunus salicina (syn. Prunus triflora or Prunus thibetica; also called Japanese plum) is a small deciduous tree native to China, and now also grown in Korea and Japan. It grows up to 10 m tall, and has reddish-brown shoots. The leaves are 6-12 cm long and 2.5-5 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in early spring, 2 cm diameter with five white petals. The fruit is a drupe 4-7 cm diameter with yellow-pink flesh; it can be harvested in the summer. When fully ripe it can be eaten raw.
Prunus salicina should not be confused with the Ume, the Japanese name for Prunus mume, a related species of plum also grown in Japan, Korea, and China. Another tree, Prunus japonica, is also a separate species despite having a Latin name similar to Prunus salicina's common name.
[edit] Uses
- Culinary uses
In China, candied fruits are also sold preserved, flavoured with sugar, salt, and liquorice. In Japan, it is also used half ripe as a flavouring in liqueur.
- Medicinal uses
The fruits are also used in Traditional Chinese medicine.
[edit] Etymology
The species name is derived from the Latin word for willow.[1]
Prunus salicina is known in Chinese as 日本李 (pinyin: rìběn lǐ, lit. "Japanese plum"), 李 (pinyin: lǐ), or 李子 (pinyin: lǐzi). In Japanese it is called sumomo (kanji: 李 or 酸桃, hiragana: すもも, katakana: スモモ; lit. "sour peach" or "sour fruit"), and in Korean it is called jadu (자두).
The surname Li (李; pinyin: Lǐ; also sometimes spelled "Lee", lit. "plum tree") is the most common surname in China, and also in the world. The Vietnamese equivalent is Ly. The Korean equivalent is Yi (hangul: 이, hanja: 李; also romanized "Lee" or "Rhee", or, less commonly, "Li", "I", or "Yee").
This article includes text based on the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article.
