Beach plum is a wild shrub with an edible fruit that looks like a small plum. The beach plum grows on the sandy shores of the Atlantic Ocean from Maine south to New Jersey. It grows up to 10 feet (3 meters) tall. In spring, the shrub has clusters of white flowers that resemble cherry blossoms. The fruit grows in a wide range of colors, including purple, red, and yellow. It is about 1/2 to 1 inch (1 to 2.5 centimeters) thick and contains a large, flat pit. The flesh of the ripe fruit is sweet and juicy, but the skin is bitter. A shrub called sand cherry is often mistaken for the beach plum. The sand cherry grows in dunes along the Great Lakes and has small, bitter, black fruits.
