Leo Gaardenier

Please ask your sister if she can maintain some seeds anyway? I could later on try to contact her.
As far as I can Judge, it is a specimen of American Plum, Prunus Americana, but I am not sure at all.
I will try to forward this url to people who can tell if it would or could be Prunus fremontii.
Best Greetings.

Afterword:
California Rare Fruit Growers act only with members of their institutions.

yukkuri kame wrote:My sister has one of the wild california prunus species, currently fruiting, but I have no idea which one. It is probably a landscaped tree, as it is right next to the house. Fruit is small, red skin with an orangish flesh. Edible, with some sweetness to it.

University of California Davis might be able to help. Have you tried contacting them?

California Rare Fruit Growers may also be able to help:
http://www.crfg.org/index.html

Thanks a lot for your fast response. triple-u communications are formidable!
Please ask your sister if ever she can find out the origin or name of the plant. It seem worth it!
In the meantime I have send a message to Mr. John Preece of the Davis repository from USDA GRIN. I'll wait for his answer because most of their Prunus come from California Rare Fruit Growers.
To get straight something from them I presume one must be member.

Dear Plant and fruitlovers,

We are a group of teachers and friends (some retired) of the Antwerp Horticultural College in Antwerp, Flanders Belgium.
http://www.provant.be/leren/provinciaal_onderwij/pts_boom-mechelen/

We try to establish a collection of all possible Prunus varieties, especially the wild ones, as an educational help for our students to show realistic diversity. Some specimens are still missing.

This message is a request for help to find some viable seeds or even better, seedlings with naked roots, from:
- Desert Plum or Prunus fremontii (most wanted)
- Sierra Plum or P. subcordata

As these are growing in your area, maybe you could help, or forward this request.
Our climate here is comparable with US zone 8a or b. So we think that these seeds could thrive here.
Of course we are ready to pay all expenses and costs for sending.

One question remains also for us: As P. fremontii and P. emarginata (which we have already) appear about in the same region in the U.S.A., are they easy to distinguish? Are they not too much hybridized?

vriendelijke groeten, Kind Regards,

Gaardenier from Flanders/Belgium