1. A computer system, the computer system comprising: one or more processors; system memory; and a distribution identifier, using one of the one or more processors, configured to: access a query plan search space for a query of a distributed database; and formulate an annotated query plan search space, including: for a group of logical operators in the query plan search space, identify a distribution property indicating an interesting type of distribution relevant to the group, the distribution property identifying a column that data for a parent group of the group is distributed on; and annotate the group with the interesting type of distribution by attaching an indication of the identified column to the group to propagate the identified interesting type of distribution to the group for use in subsequent query plan pruning.