Types of Plums: Damsons, Greengages, Mirabelles & More
Short answer: Most plums belong to two species: the European plum (Prunus domestica), which includes damsons, greengages, and mirabelles and is prized for cooking and drying, and the Japanese plum (Prunus salicina), the large, juicy round plums common in supermarkets. Wild and regional types like the cherry-plum and American plum round out the group. As a rule, round and juicy means dessert plum; small, oval, and firm means a cooking or preserving plum.
| 🟣 Plum | 🫐 Damson | 🟢 Greengage | 🟡 Mirabelle | 🔴 Cherry plum | 🔴 American plum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taste | Sweet flesh under tart, tannic skin is the plum signature — a built-in sweet-sour contrast. Greengages are pure honey; damsons astringent and jam-bound; Japanese plums juicy and mild. | Sharply tart and astringent raw, with a thick dusty-blue skin and clingy stone; cooked with sugar it turns rich, winey, and intensely plummy — far deeper than a dessert plum. | Exceptionally sweet and honeyed with a dense, melting flesh and complex almond-and-apricot notes; the green skin masks a sugar level higher than most purple plums. | Sweet and richly aromatic with a bright honey-and-apricot tang and a small freestone; the thin golden skin sometimes carries a red blush and a subtle almond note. | Sweet-tart and juicy with a thin skin and soft, sometimes clingy stone; flavor ranges from bright and refreshing to richly sweet depending on color and ripeness. | Sweet, juicy flesh with a distinctly tart, sometimes astringent skin; the small red or yellow plums are bright and refreshing when fully ripe, with a clingstone and a wild, vivid plum flavor. |
| Type | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit | Stone fruit |
| Peak season | Summer, Autumn | Autumn | Summer | Summer | Summer | Summer, Autumn |
| Origin | Multiple domestications: European plum near the Caucasus, Japanese plum in China | Western Asia (near Damascus); long naturalized across Britain and Europe | Likely Persia/Asia Minor; refined in France as the Reine Claude | Asia Minor; famously cultivated in Lorraine, northeastern France | The Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia | Central and eastern North America |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 46 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 46 | 50 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 9.9 g | 9 g | 10 g | 10 g | 9 g | 9 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 9.5 mg | 10 mg | 8 mg | 9 mg | 9 mg | 15 mg |
| Fiber (per 100 g) | 1.4 g | 1.8 g | 1.6 g | 1.5 g | 1.5 g | 2 g |
| Potassium (per 100 g) | 157 mg | 200 mg | 190 mg | 200 mg | 190 mg | — |
| Typical price | Budget | Budget | Premium | Mid | Budget | Budget |
‘Plum’ covers a wider family than the supermarket fruit suggests. Nearly all belong to the genus Prunus, and they split into a few main groups by species, size, and use.
European plums (Prunus domestica) are the old-world backbone. The damson is small, oval, and tart - a dedicated cooking and preserving plum, too astringent to enjoy raw but superb in jam and damson gin. The greengage looks unripe with its green-gold skin but is one of the sweetest, most honeyed plums you can eat fresh. The mirabelle is a tiny, round, golden plum, intensely sweet, and a favourite for tarts and fruit brandies in France.
Japanese plums (Prunus salicina) are the large, round, juicy plums that dominate supermarket shelves - red, purple, or black-skinned, best eaten fresh out of hand. Most everyday “plums” people buy belong here.
Wild and regional plums fill out the group. The cherry-plum (Prunus cerasifera) is a small round red or yellow fruit, usually the first plum to ripen in early summer. The American plum (Prunus americana) is a hardy North American native with tart skin and sweet flesh, long used for jelly and preserves.
The quick guide: large and round means a fresh-eating Japanese plum; small and oval means a European cooking plum like the damson; green-gold and sweet is a greengage; cherry-sized is a mirabelle or cherry-plum.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a plum and a damson?
A damson is a small, oval European plum with tart, astringent skin and firm flesh that clings to the stone. It's too sharp for most people to enjoy raw and is grown mainly for jam, gin, and cooking, whereas dessert plums are larger, sweeter, and eaten fresh.
Are greengages a type of plum?
Yes. Greengages are a group of European plums (Prunus domestica subsp. italica) with green to golden skin and exceptionally sweet, honeyed flesh. They're considered among the finest dessert plums despite their unripe-looking colour.
What's the smallest kind of plum?
The mirabelle and the cherry-plum are the smallest common plums - both roughly cherry-sized. Mirabelles are sweet golden plums used in tarts and eaux-de-vie; cherry-plums are round red or yellow fruits from Prunus cerasifera, often the earliest plum to ripen.