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  • Oemleria cerasiformis

Oemleria cerasiformis

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Common name: Indian plum, oso berry


Oemleria cerasiformis - It’s hopeful when you see buds on Indian plum in December. This large and graceful shrub is telling you not to get bogged down in winter because it will be flowering sooner than you think - around late winter to early spring. It is the first deciduous native shrub in the Pacific Northwest to bloom. And get ready for its greenish-white flowers followed by spring green foliage. 


The female flowers smell like almonds and the male flowers like watermelon. This plant is dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants), so you need to have a female plant with a male one nearby for it to bear fruit. The fruit are like small plums. Immature fruit is peach-coloured; mature fruit is purple or bluish-black. 


Indian plums were eaten in small quantities fresh, cooked, or dried by First Nations. The dried berries were saved as famine food for winter, and the twigs and bark had various medicinal uses. Birds love its fruit, and so do coyote, raccoons, skunk and deer. Bears also eat its fruit, which explains one of its common names - oso berry. ‘Oso’ from Spanish means bear. Also, Indian plum flowers are an early food source for its pollinators, native bees and hummingbirds. 


Native to western North America, Indian plum grows in dry to moist open woods and stream banks. The genus name honors Augustus Gottlieb Oemler (1774-1852), a German-American pharmacist and naturalist. The specific epithet ‘cerasiformis’ means cherry-shaped, referring to the fruit. 


Indian plum brightens a dreary winter day. It is a subtle woodland plant and you have to look carefully to see it. In VanDusen, Indian plum is growing in bed 24B by Livingstone Lake, in bed 35D near the cedar tree by the Ornamental Grasses, and in the BC Habitat and Cascadia Gardens. 


Text and unannotated photos by Hughie Jones

Annotated photos by Kumi Sutcliffe

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  • Home
  • Updates
    • What's New
    • Garden Stories >
      • Garden Story Index
    • Self-Guided Tours
    • Gardener Walks
    • Curator Updates
    • Guide Training
    • Walks & Talks >
      • Walks and Talks 2025
      • Walks and Talks 2024
      • Walks and Talks 2023
      • Walks and Talks 2022
      • Walks -Talks 2021 & Zoom Tips
    • PDFs of Updates, Tours, & Talks >
      • Self-guided Tours (PDF)
      • Gardener Walks (PDF)
  • Plant IDs
    • ID By Flower Color >
      • Red Flowers
      • Pink Flowers
      • Orange Flowers
      • Yellow Flowers
      • Green Flowers
      • Blue Flowers
      • Purple Flowers
      • White Flowers
    • ID By Type >
      • Annuals
      • Berries-Fruits-Nuts
      • Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, Tubers >
        • Bulbs
        • Corms
        • Rhizomes
        • Tubers
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Medicinal Plants
      • Native Plants
      • Perennials >
        • Peonies
        • Salvias
      • Rhododendrons >
        • Rhodendron Erica Notes
      • Shrubs >
        • Calycanthus
        • Hydrangeas >
          • Hydrangea Background
        • Peonies >
          • Peonies-Overview
        • Rhododendrons
        • Roses >
          • Rose Background
      • Trees >
        • Conifers >
          • Cypress
          • Firs
          • Pines
        • Conifer Connect Exhibit
        • Deciduous Trees >
          • Dogwoods
          • Ginkgos
          • Magnolias
          • Witch Hazels
        • Native Trees
        • Tree of the Month
  • In the Garden
    • Map and Collection Lists >
      • Plant Locator
    • Art in the Garden >
      • Symposium & Exhibitions
    • Building and Grounds >
      • Bridges
      • Formal Rose Garden Hardscape and Art
      • Grotto Area & Black Garden
      • Korean Pavilion
      • Maze
    • Gardener Assignments
    • Collections >
      • Ash Collection
      • Camellia Collection
      • Rhododendron Walk
    • Gardens >
      • Gardens A-D >
        • Alma VanDusen Garden
        • Backyard Bird Garden
        • Bentall Garden
        • Black Garden
        • Canadian Heritage Garden >
          • Bees
          • Canadian Heritage Orchard
        • Cascadia Garden
        • Cherry Grove
        • Chilean Garden
      • Gardens E-H >
        • Eastern North America Garden
        • Fern Dell
        • Formal Rose Garden
        • Fragrance Garden
        • Heather Garden
        • Herb Garden
        • Heritage Rose Garden
      • Gardens I-P >
        • Laburnum Walk
        • Livingstone Lake
        • Meconopsis Dell
        • Meditation Garden
        • Mediterranean Garden
        • Ornamental Grasses
        • Perennial Garden
      • Gardens R-Z >
        • Rhododendron Walk
        • Sino-Himayalan Region
        • South African Garden
        • Southern Hemisphere
        • Stone Garden
        • Vegetable Garden
        • Woodland Garden
    • Garden History >
      • History photos
  • Science
    • Animals & Insects >
      • Birds
      • Butterflies and Moths
      • Insect Friends
      • Small Creatures
    • Buds
    • Colour and Vision
    • Dynamic Symmetry - Fibonacci Spirals
    • Flowers
    • Fruit
    • Germination
    • Habitats and Environments
    • Hormones
    • Leaves
    • Life on Earth
    • Light, Energy, and Rainbows
    • Plant Calendars
    • Pollination
    • Pollen
    • Roots
    • Scents
    • Seeds
    • Soil
    • Stems
    • Vascular Plants
    • Web of Interdependence
    • Weeds
  • Bloedel
  • Search
    • Internet links
  • About
    • ERICA, ERICA'S TREE (and a short history of Guiding) - June 14, 2018
  • Contact