'Wild plum of America' definitions:

Definition of 'Wild plum of America'

From: GCIDE
  • Plum \Plum\, n. [AS. pl[=u]me, fr. L. prunum; akin to Gr. ?, ?. Cf. Prune a dried plum.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. (Bot.) The edible drupaceous fruit of the {Prunus domestica}, and of several other species of Prunus; also, the tree itself, usually called plum tree. [1913 Webster]
  • The bullace, the damson, and the numerous varieties of plum, of our gardens, although growing into thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the blackthorn, produced by long cultivation. --G. Bentham. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Two or three hundred varieties of plums derived from the Prunus domestica are described; among them the greengage, the Orleans, the purple gage, or Reine Claude Violette, and the German prune, are some of the best known. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Among the true plums are;
  • Beach plum, the Prunus maritima, and its crimson or purple globular drupes,
  • Bullace plum. See Bullace.
  • Chickasaw plum, the American Prunus Chicasa, and its round red drupes.
  • Orleans plum, a dark reddish purple plum of medium size, much grown in England for sale in the markets.
  • Wild plum of America, Prunus Americana, with red or yellow fruit, the original of the Iowa plum and several other varieties. [1913 Webster] Among plants called plum, but of other genera than Prunus, are;
  • Australian plum, Cargillia arborea and {Cargillia australis}, of the same family with the persimmon.
  • Blood plum, the West African H[ae]matostaphes Barteri.
  • Cocoa plum, the Spanish nectarine. See under Nectarine.
  • Date plum. See under Date.
  • Gingerbread plum, the West African {Parinarium macrophyllum}.
  • Gopher plum, the Ogeechee lime.
  • Gray plum, Guinea plum. See under Guinea.
  • Indian plum, several species of Flacourtia. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A grape dried in the sun; a raisin. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A handsome fortune or property; formerly, in cant language, the sum of [pounds]100,000 sterling; also, the person possessing it. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Something likened to a plum in desirableness; a good or choice thing of its kind, as among appointments, positions, parts of a book, etc.; as, the mayor rewarded his cronies with cushy plums, requiring little work for handsome pay [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
  • 5. A color resembling that of a plum; a slightly grayish deep purple, varying somewhat in its red or blue tint. [PJC]
  • Plum bird, Plum budder (Zool.), the European bullfinch.
  • Plum gouger (Zool.), a weevil, or curculio ({Coccotorus scutellaris}), which destroys plums. It makes round holes in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva bores into the stone and eats the kernel.
  • Plum weevil (Zool.), an American weevil which is very destructive to plums, nectarines, cherries, and many other stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the pulp around the stone. Called also turk, and {plum curculio}. See Illust. under Curculio. [1913 Webster]