Cherry plum
Prunus cerasiferaCherry plum is a small, bushy tree that fills with white blossom from February, as its first leaves start to open. Its thin young shoots are shiny green.
How to identify cherry plum →
Henry Miller, CC BY 4.0
Lookalikes
Cherry plum or purple-leaved plum?
Purple-leaved plum is the purple form of cherry plum, planted along town streets.
The quickest check
The quickest check is the colour of a leaf. Cherry plum: fresh green and glossy. Purple-leaved plum: maroon from spring until they fall. No leaves on the tree? Check the flower and its shoot.
At a glance
| Look at | Cherry plum | Purple-leaved plum |
|---|---|---|
| Colour of a leaf | Fresh green and glossy | Maroon from spring until they fall |
| Flower and its shoot | White, over green leaf tips | Pale to deep pink, on shiny purple shoots |
| Colour of a young shoot | Thin and fresh green, shiny | Slender and shiny purple |
Three ways to tell them apart
Colour of a leafLeaves
Flower and its shootFlowers
Colour of a young shootTwigs and buds
The two trees
Purple-leaved plum
Prunus cerasifera 'Pissardii' and 'Nigra'Purple-leaved plum is a round-headed tree planted in streets and gardens. Its leaves are maroon from spring until they fall. Pink blossom opens on shiny purple shoots in February and March.
How to identify purple-leaved plum →
In the app
See them side by side in Treely
- Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
- Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
- A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
- The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
Free to download.
Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.
Photographs: Henry Miller (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), Shawn O'Donnell (CC BY 4.0), Scott Shanks (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.