Lichen covered Wild Plum in Cornish hedge - part of fruiting sequence. Smaller than Damson but larger than related Sloe. Maybe Bullace. (See NOTES)

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I have been recording this small plum tree for about 6 months (from green fruits to developed purple-black), but its true varietal form is hard to pin - It's not a true Damson, & don't think it's a true Bullace (black variety), and not a Sloe / Blackthorn. [1] The small tree bears no thorns, which makes it unlikely to be a Sloe. [2] The fruits are eliptical (Sloe generally rounded) but larger than sloe fruit, being about 12-15mm long. [3] The fruits are much smaller than Damsons that I have encountered (generally 20-25mm). [4] The light-ish green leaves are quite thin and narrow, relatively speaking, to Damsons & Bullace. In my experience Damsons tend to have darker green leaves, though some Sloe bushes have paler green - This fruiting tree could simply be a feral domestic plum hybrid, growing from a discarded plum stone and 'returning to true form'.

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Size: 5568px × 3712px
Location: cornwall, uk
Photo credit: © Marcus Harrison - plants / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., black, blue, bullace, damson, domestica, foods, foraged, foraging, fruits, growing, hedgerow, hybrid, insititia, metaphor, nigra, plum, plums, prunus, subsp., uk, var., wild