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Advice on Publications Available.Beach plum is a shrub native to the Atlantic coastal sand dunes of the Unites States, from Newfoundland to North Carolina. This environment is characterized by drought, low nutrient and water-holding soil, high winds, blowing sand, unstable substrate and high salt levels.
Although beach plum is occasionally found in the nursery trade, it is underutilized and could satisfy an increasing demand for sustainable fruit production systems, low-input landscapes, and sand dune restoration. The plant has a showy spring flower display, glossy green leaves, and low growth habit, and therefore may warrant increased use in more intensively managed ornamental landscapes as well.
The plums are 1.5 cm in diameter and since colonial times have been collected from the wild for the production of preserves. Interest increased in the plant in the 1940s when the economics of World War II led Americans to investigate native crops.
At that time, work on beach plum was commenced at the Arnold Arboretum and through the University of Massachusetts, in the hope of developing a small fruit industry on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Cultivars were selected, diseases and pests were documented, and propagation and cultural methods were developed. In 1948, the Cape Cod Beach Plum Growers Association was formed, soon after an official Massachusetts State Grade Label was created.
After World War II, interest in the crop for commercial jelly production waned but jelly manufacture from wild fruit continues as a viable cottage industry among coastal communities.
The recent increase in interest in the development of native plants, dune stabilization and sustainable cropping systems has rekindled development work on beach plum at Cornell University, Rutgers University, the Cape May Plant Materials Center (SCS), University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension, and several private spec-iality nurseries. Beach plum, therefore appears to be a prime candidate for increased horticultural use.
Our first objective is to evaluate the cultural practices of mulching, fertilization, and irrigation for growing beach plum in a commercial orchard setting. This information will provide recommendations for farmers and a starting point for further research to maximize and improve fruit quality.
Our second objective is to evaluate the use of beach plum on a land restoration site (gravel pit). Beach plum will be planted with and without bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica), a native Frankia symbiont. We plan to assess beach plum as a land reclamation species and to consider its potential for fruit production on marginal land; to compare the growth and establishment of direct seeded vs. container grown plots of beach plum and bayberry (both in monocultures and when grown together); to compare leaf nitrogen content of beach plum planted with and without bayberry; and to assess the effects of amendments (such as wood chips, compost or overburden) on the growth of beach plum.
A third objective will be to investigate beach plum's role in coastal sand dune plant communities.
Our cooperators include Cape Cod (Massachusetts) Cooperative Extension and two Massachusetts growers, Hatchville Farm and Coonamessett Farm. Financial support has been provided by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Cornell Agroforestry Working Group, Friends of Long Island Horticulture, the Landscape Plant Development Center of the University of Minnesota, and the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF