Mexican Plum

Single-trunked, spring-flowering small tree with bark that eventually gets dark and striated, peeling off in patches. It grows in full sun or as an understory tree in the eastern half of the state.
Early in the spring it is covered with clouds of white fragrant flowers that are up to an inch wide. The dark red or purple fruit ripens late in the fall. Because it does not sucker from the base and is relatively drought tolerant, its root stock is widely used for grafting. It grows singly and does not form thickets as many of our other native plums do.