Need help to identify tree

[Abyrose]

My husband and I purchased an older home in Sacramento, Ca last fall. There is a deciduous tree that had green leaves before they dropped. To our surprise, in early spring the tree was inundated with beautiful pink blossoms about the size of a half dollar. When the leaves opened, they were a reddish plum color and curled before they flatten out. The tree is now shades of dark plum and moss green and has a fuzzy almond shape fruit or nut that is also plum and green in color. Does anyone know what this tree is? Thank you for any help.

[!potatoes!]

pics of leaves/fruits would be helpful.

[Abyrose]

Hope this link will work. I haven't attached a photo before.

[cynthia_h]

It looks very much like a plum tree. Depending on where you are in Sacramento, your house was built over an old orchard.

We lived in Rancho Cordova when I was in 3rd and 4th grade (military family), and there was still an orchard at the end of the street and an empty field across the street where there are now a community college and a high school.

I make plum chutney and Chinese-style plum sauce regularly, since my MIL's next-door neighbor has a plum tree.

And, of course, when we visit during plum season (July and early August in Palo Alto), there's the requisite amount of eating plums over the kitchen sink!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Abyrose]

Thank you for the information. I love plums. I didn't know the fruit was fuzzy at first. Would love to have your recipes as the tree has a lot of fruit and what a nice gift for friends and family. Thanks again for your help.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Cynthia, could we still be talking an almond? Same family, right?

(I could not get into that other image, but this sounded familiar...)

HG

[cynthia_h]

If you look at the first image url (just copy/paste from the first http:// to the first .jpg), you'll see that the leaves appear in the typical plum "cluster," and that they're the dark shades more customary to plum trees.

It's of course *possible* that it's an almond, since both are grown in the San Joaquin Valley, but the leaf color and clustering/sharing of future abscission points looks more plum-like to me.

Both are yummy!

Cynthia

[The Helpful Gardener]

Got it, and you are right the leaf color is much more Prunus than Amygdalus communis (which not so far back was known as Prunus amygdalus, and probably still should be, but scientists need something to do so they rename stuff )

HG

[cynthia_h]

@Helpful Gardener:

@Abyrose: I'll send those recipes along in the next couple of days.

Cynthia

[Abyrose]

I'm still confused over the fuzzy fruit. Are plums fuzzy and then go smooth?

I look forward to the recipes. thanks so much.

[applestar]

I don't know about plums but my apples are fuzzy right now. You wouldn't think apples could ever be fuzzy, would you? *I* was surprised.
OK, rephrase that -- just went out to check -- my European plums are smooth but the Prunus armeniana (Chinese plum/apricot) is fuzzy.