Plum

More than 2,000 years ago, the Assyrians were the first to cultivate the wild plum, and a short time later the Romans hybridized them. Plums were brought to the west coast of the North American continent by Spanish missionaries and to the eastern coastline by English Colonists.

The plum is a soft round fruit, with sweet flesh and smooth skin. There are many varieties of plum, developing from separate species, each indigenous to different parts of the world. Because of the many varieties, plums vary in size and color. For instance, the flesh of plums can be white, yellow, green, or red, with variations in skin color. At the center of the plum, as in all stone fruits, there is a stone or pit. This stone is somewhat flat and pointed. At present, all plums fall under one of two groupings: European or Japanese.