{{Speciesbox | image = Prunus maritima.jpg | display_parents = 2 | status = DD | status_system = IUCN3.1 | genus = Prunus | parent = Prunus sect. Prunocerasus | species = maritima | authority = Marshall | synonyms = Prunus acuminata Hook.f. Prunus acuminata Michx.Prunus gravesii Small Prunus maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson Prunus declinata Marsh.Prunus lancifolia Clav.Prunus littoralis Bigel.Prunus poiretiana Heynh.Prunus pubescens PurshPrunus pygmaea Willd.Prunus reclinata Bosc ex SpachPrunus sphaerica Willd. | synonyms_ref = }}Prunus maritima, the beach plum, is a species of plum native to the East Coast of the United States. It is a choice wild edible and its few pests and salt tolerance make it a resilient fruit crop for degraded lands and urban soils. Description Prunus maritima is a deciduous shrub, in its natural sand dune habitat growing tall, although it can grow larger, up to tall, when cultivated in gardens. The leaves are alternate, elliptical, long and broad, with a sharply toothed margin. They are green on top and pale below, becoming showy red or orange in the autumn. The flowers are in diameter, with five white petals and large yellow anthers. The fruit is an edible drupe in diameter in the wild plant, red, yellow, blue, or nearly black.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan . The plant is salt-tolerant and cold-hardy. It prefers the full sun and well-drained soil. It spreads roots by putting out suckers but in coarse soil puts down a taproot. In dunes it is often partly buried in drifting sand. It blooms in mid-May and June. The fruit ripens in August and early September. The species is endangered in Maine, where it is in serious decline due to commercial development of its beach habitats. Taxonomy The species was first described by Marshall in 1785 as Prunus maritima, the "Sea side Plumb". A few sources cite Wangenheim as the author, though Wangenheim's publication dates to 1787, two years later than Marshall's. A plant with rounded leaves, of which only a single specimen has ever been found in the wild, has been described as P. maritima var. gravesii (Small) G.J.Anderson, though its taxonomic status is questionable, and it may be better considered a cultivar P. maritima'' 'Gravesii'. The original plant, found in Connecticut, died in the wild in about 2000, but it is maintained in cultivation from rooted cuttings. Distribution and habitat The species can be found