Native Garden Plant Factsheets
Native Garden Plant Factsheets
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June Plum (ȾEX̱EN¸IȽĆ / t̕ᶿəx̣ʷən̕íɬč)
June Plum (ȾEX̱EN¸IȽĆ / t̕ᶿəx̣ʷən̕íɬč)
Illustration by Sabrina Saenko
English Name(s): June Plum, also Indian Plum, Osoberry, Oregon Plum, & Bird-Cherry
Scientific Name: Oemleria cerasiformis
SENĆOŦEN Name: ȾEX̱EN¸IȽĆ (tree), ȾEX̱EN¸ (plum)
lək̓ʷəŋən Name: t̕ᶿəx̣ʷən̕íɬč (tree), t̕ᶿəx̣ʷən̕ (plum)
Fun Facts:
Often the first bush to leaf out in the spring, this tall shrub with smooth oblong leaves has a pungent smell. Small white flowers droop into clusters of dark blue plum-like fruits containing pyrenas. The unripe fruit is bitter, but becomes tasty once fully ripe. The leaves have a cucumber-like smell when crushed.
June plums contain antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, and K which are excellent for maitaining healthy vision.
Traditional Uses:
Indigenous people eat the plums fresh, cooked or dried, though in small quantities as the leaves, seeds, and fruit may contain hydrogen cyanide despite the Royal BC Museum claiming they are poisonous. The twigs and the bark are used for various medicinal purposes and ailments, such as boiled as a purgative for diarrhea: Elsie Claxton of the SȾÁUTW̱ First Nation uses it in her ten bark medicine to "clean all bad things" as it "takes out everything".
Blooms: February to April
Season: Fruit ripens in the Spring: May to July
Habitat: Dry to moist open woods, streambanks, roadside thickets, and other open areas in low elevations
Range: The Southwest Coast of British Columbia (From Campbell River to Squamish to Yale to Victoria) to the Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevada in California
Further Sources:
http://nativeplantspnw.com/indian-plum-oemleria-cerasiformis/
Saanich Ethnobotany by Nancy J. Turner & Richard J. Hebda
Plants of Coastal British Columbia by Jim Pojar & Andy MacKinnon
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