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Plums: bullaces, wild plums and myrobalans

Myrobalans (Prunus cerasifera) and bullaces (Prunus insititia) are closely related to wild plums (Prunus domestica). The three can be difficult to tell apart Naturalised across Britain, these trees bear white or pink five-petalled flowers in early spring, singly or in small clusters.

Bullaces

Fruit: greenish-yellow or purple, with a grey bloom and moderately flattened stones. Cultivars are split into mirabelles (gold) and damsons (purple).
Tree: twigs of bullaces (and plums) usually turn grey-brown in their first winter; bullace shoots are often spiny, with downy young stems and flower stalks.
Flowers: usually April

Wild plums

Fruit: variable in colour, larger than either myrobalans or bullaces. Stones are sharp angled and notably flattened.
Tree: twigs are much less hairy than bullace, and rarely thorny.
Flowers: usually April

Myrobalans

Fruit: red or yellow, smaller and rounder than bullaces or plums. Stones are smooth and barely flattened.
Tree: usually spineless, with glossy leaves and hairless stems that stay green during their first year. Ornamental purple-leaved cultivars are widely planted (but their fruit are insipid).
Flowers: earliest of the three, usually in March.