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Prunus salicina (syn. Prunus triflora or Prunus thibetica; also called Japanese plum) is a small deciduous tree native to China, and now also grown in Korea and Japan. It grows up to 10 m tall, and has reddish-brown shoots. The leaves are 6-12 cm long and 2.5-5 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in early spring, 2 cm diameter with five white petals. The fruit is a drupe 4-7 cm diameter with yellow-pink flesh; it can be harvested in the summer. When fully ripe it can be eaten raw. Prunus salicina should not be confused with the Ume, the Japanese name for Prunus mume, a related species of plum also grown in Japan, Korea, and China. Another tree, Prunus japonica, is also a separate species despite having a Latin name similar to Prunus salicinas common name.
Uses Culinary uses In China, candied fruits are also sold preserved, flavoured with sugar, salt, and liquorice. In Japan, it is also used half ripe as a flavouring in liqueur. Medicinal uses The fruits are also used in Traditional Chinese medicine. Etymology The species name is derived from the Latin word for willow.* Prunus salicina is known in Chinese as 日本李 (pinyin: rìběn lǐ, lit. "Japanese plum"), 李 (pinyin: lǐ), or 李子 (pinyin: lǐzi). In Japanese it is called sumomo (kanji: 李 or 酸桃, hiragana: すもも, katakana: スモモ; lit. "sour peach" or "sour fruit"), and in Korean it is called jadu (자두). The surname Li (李; pinyin: Lǐ; also sometimes spelled "Lee", lit. "plum tree") is the most common surname in China, and also in the world. The Vietnamese equivalent is Ly. The Korean equivalent is Yi (hangul: 이, hanja: 李; also romanized "Lee" or "Rhee", or, less commonly, "Li", "I", or "Yee"). This article includes text based on the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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