Plum is a fruit plant from the vast family of Pinks (Rosaceae). Many fruit and berry crops that are well known to children and adults belong to the same systematic group: apple, cherry, cherry, apricot, peach, strawberry, raspberry. We will examine the question that most often sounds like this: "Is plum a berry or a fruit?" There is nothing surprising in the fact that many are confused in terms.
Plum - berry or fruit?
Among the fruit trees, plum trees occupy an honorable place, since from ancient times people have been growing it for the sake of harvesting. Plum, blackthorn, cherry plum are prepared from sweet fruits, sauces and spirits. Plum is a tree or shrub from 1 to 6 m high. All groups of varieties and wild species are high-yielding plants.
The fruit - a single-stone drupes - is formed in place of a flower after fertilization. Before ripening, the pericarp remains solid for some time, painted green. As nutrients accumulate, the fetus becomes more juicy, and inside it, in a special nest, a hard bone with a seed is formed.
What are the fruits?
The term “fruit” came from the Latin language to Russian for a very long time, which did not take root in scientific life. But in medicine, dietetics, cooking and in everyday life, this word is very popular, although not everyone can interpret it correctly. What is the difference between a fruit and a berry? Plum belongs to which of these two groups?
It is generally accepted that a fruit is the same as a fruit, because that is how the word fructus is translated from Latin. Other edible parts of the plants, and the plants themselves, may still belong to such economic groups as vegetables, cereals, nuts. Among the fruits, two groups of juicy fruits are distinguished : drupes and berries. They differ in the number of seeds and a number of other characteristics.
Let’s sort it out thoroughly: a plum is actually a fruit or a berry. It is necessary to distinguish between scientific terms and economic definitions. Types of plant fruits in botany differ in pericarp consistency and number of seeds. There are 4 main groups - dry and juicy, single-seeded and multi-seeded.
What type of fruit does the plum have?
Drupe - plums, cherries, apricots - are juicy, contain one seed. Berries are also juicy, but multi-seeded fruits. They arise from one or more carpels. Distinguish entirely fleshy berry with a thin skin, like grapes, and a leathery berry, in which the pericarp is thick, like an orange. So, is plum a berry or a fruit? The second concept is more extensive and includes the first, that is, berries are a type of fruit (fruit).
Representatives of botanical science, without hesitation, will determine: a plum is a berry or a fruit. Seeing the juicy fruits of plums and grapes, they will say that they are drupe and berry. A nutritionist, a salesperson, an ordinary person will explain that both are fruits. Everyone will be right in their reasoning and conclusions. Thus, plum is not a berry. It should be recalled that berries can also be considered fruit, which is not considered a mistake in economic activities. After all, all these are fruits (lat. Fructus).
Does plum relate to trees or shrubs?
In appearance, plants can be attributed to different life forms. The main groups are the following groups: trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, vines. Life forms are a kind of adaptation to the conditions of existence.
After we easily figured out the problem outlined above - a plum is a berry or a fruit - it will be more difficult to answer the question about life form. In appearance, plants belonging to the genus Plum are low trees and shrubs. The most common form is a home garden plum. In the wild, the tree is found in the Caucasus.
Variety of species of the subgenus Prunus
Wild plums are still found in forests, along gullies and ravines, but most species belonging to this subgenus have long been cultivated. They give rich yields of medium and large fruits of different colors with a characteristic flat bone inside. Their length usually exceeds the thickness by a factor of 1.5, and the diameter is from 1-3 cm. New varieties have been developed that produce large fruits up to 8 cm in size, sweet in taste or sour. Common types in Eurasia:
- Home garden - the usual look for central Russia.
- Prickly, thorns, blackthorn - a small, very prickly shrub with blue fruits.
- Spread, cherry plum - a tree reaching a height of 8 m. It is found in the wild in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
- Ussuriysk - wildly lives in Primorye and cultivated for fruits in Eastern Siberia.
- Chinese - grown in China, Japan, Korea. Sweet and sour fruits are widely used in cooking and winemaking.
- Pissardi is an ornamental tree with beautiful pink petals and dark red foliage. Used in landscape design.
At the sight of a blackthorn bush, bewilderment arises: is it really a plum? Berry or fruit - its dark blue small fruit? Cherry plum is also surprising in its fruiting. Although this tree looks like a plum, the color of its rich harvest is unusual - red and yellow (lilac and blue fruits are less common).
Useful qualities of plums
People use the fruits of wild and cultivated plants for food, for processing into juices, preserves, jams, liquors, as a filling for baking, as medicinal raw materials. Home plum has long been grown for the sake of juicy drupes with a bluish bloom. Homemade plum fruits contain:
- carbohydrates (fructose, glucose);
- vitamins C, A, P, group B;
- organic acids;
- tannins;
- trace elements;
- pectins.
Preparations from the pulp of fruits and seeds of plum are used in folk and official medicine. Prunes are used in diet food and confectionery.
Plum blossoms early and plentifully, even before the leaves completely bloom. Trees and shrubs look very elegant, appreciated in landscape design.
Traditionally, in the 20th century, two groups of varieties were distinguished as a part of the species - Hungarian and greengage. The former are represented by trees and shrubs with blue-violet rounded or elongated fruits. Greenbacks more often have spherical fruits of a greenish color. Now the main focus is the breeding of undersized subspecies, interspecific crossbreeding and obtaining hybrids such as plums and apricots.