There are park alerts in effect.
show Alerts »
-
Elk Mountain Campground Closed
The Elk Mountain Campground is closed and will remain closed through the summer of 2013 due to across the board budget cuts.
Shrubs - Wild Plum
Wild Plum - Prunus americana
NPS Photo
Shrub 3 to 10 feet tall with white blossoms in late spring, producing yellow-to-red fruits. Both Plains Indians and settlers relished this fruit raw, dried, or cooked in jellies and preserves. Lewis and Clark wrote of its abundance alongside rivers and grassy bottomlands, standing in many-acre colonies. These groves are both naturally occurring and, in some cases, may have been the result of “rubbish piles” of plum seeds discarded by Plains Indians camped nearby.
|
Did You Know?
The scientific name for the Stemless Hymenoxys is Hymemoxys acaulis. Acaulis means "stemless" and referes to the leafless stalks which bear the flower heads. More...