Bird Friendly Native of the Month

JUNE 2016 NC NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY REEDY CREEK NATURE PRESERVE

Prunus with Tiger Swallowtail Photo by Will Stuart

Prunus angustifolia Chickasaw Food and Shelter If you do want to produce typically longer lived and more Chickasaw Plum offers many Chickasaw Plum fruit, be sure to attractive than its cousin, services to our wildlife friends. plant two or more individual American Plum, Prunus americana. The rambling and sometimes Plant Chickasaw Plum in full sun. thorny hedgerows shelter Wildlife habitat…what do they and it will grow to about 10 feet bobwhite, thrasher, catbirds need? tall. Being deciduous, Chickasaw and mocking birds. The Places to nest, places to hide, places to Plum is lovely in early spring in shrubby trees are also roost and food to eat. A Chickasaw Plum full flower before the leaves excellent larval host for hedge provides all of this for a variety of develop. Chickasaw tend to swallowtail, hairstreak, and birds and small mammals. The thorny form spreading colonies and are admiral butterflies. brambles that are inhospitable to drought tolerant once established. Chickasaw Plum fruits are humans are also a deterrent to predators They can be used to stabilize a such as hawks and cats. more often relished by wildlife stream bank or gully. than people. The plum fruits Chickasaw Plum could be an are a bit sour for our modern alternative to invasive exotic taste, unless you can wait until plants in close proximity to Bradford Pear trees, if you are they are fully red or orange. achieve cross pollination. focusing on wildlife benefits. The There is evidence that Chickasaw form of the two trees is quite Indians also consumed the fresh Plum Choices different—Chickasaw Plum is a fruits and used the dried fruits in While we have several native rambling hedge compared to the winter. The fruits have also plums, Chickasaw Plum might be tree form of Bradford Pear. the desirable selection for your historically been used to make Bird Friendly Native Plant of the Month is a joint landscape. Chickasaw Plum is effort of the NC Native Plant Society and jams, jellies and wines. Audubon North Carolina.