Greetings,
I own 25 acres in the central Oregon coast range. Purchased the property 2 years ago. The property has 20+ apple, pear, fig, and walnut trees that have not been pruned in 20 years. I am trying to identify another fruit tree that is all over the property (probably 10+ trees). The realtor says they are plums. The trees are of two different varieties (yellow and dark red fruit). When the fruits, which are about 1" in diameter are ripe they are unbelievably sweet and flavorful. The trees have hundreds of small fruit on each tree such that many of the limbs are bending to the ground (is this because they haven't had the fruit thinned?? Probably). These would be the smallest plums I have ever seen as they are about the size of cherries.
What type of tree is this??
Thanks,
Al
They appear to be plums, very likely ‘seedlings,’ spread by animals from a local source. If the trees have an obvious ‘graft union’ or knob near the ground, where the fruiting wood had been grafted to a rootstock, they’d have likely been purposely planted and may be ‘known varieties.’ If not, I’d suspect seedlings.
If they’re seedlings, they’d likely be crosses of other ‘known varieties’ from within the orchard planting. If their trees are all smaller than any existing plum trees within the orchard, that’s another indicator of where they likely came from. And they look like Oriental, not European (plums vs prunes).
They’re not cherries, and most likely did/ do need thinning… Prop up extremely loaded branches to keep them from breaking, and thin them next year… and see if they don’t ‘size up’ with less competition.
Otherwise, enjoy them! And welcome to the Forum, Al 