White Fringe Tree vs Opata Cherry Plum - TreeTime.ca

White Fringe Tree vs Opata Cherry Plum

Prunus besseyi x salicina Opata

Chionanthus virginicus

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Opata Cherry Plum
White Fringe Tree

Opata Cherry Plum is considered to be one of the best tasting Cherry Plum varieties. It has a pleasant, sweet flavour and a hint of acidity. They ripen in mid to late August and are well suited to fresh eating, baking, and preserves.

The fruit is closer to a plum than a cherry but is smaller than most plums.The Opata Cherry Plum’s skin is red/green whereas the flesh is yellow-green. The flesh is freestone with a juicy, firm texture. Similar to other stone fruits, it does not store for very long.

The Opata Cherry Plum is a hybrid between a Western Sand Cherry and a Japanese (Chinese) Plum. For fruit production, it needs to be planted with another variety for cross-pollination. Canada Plum and American Plum are considered universal pollinizers.

White Fringe Tree is known for its fringe-like white flowers. It can either grow as a small tree or a large multistemmed shrub. The White Fringe Tree has separate male and female plants. Both male and female flowers have white fringe-like petals, but the male flowers are longer and showier. The female flowers give way to clusters of dark blue to black berries. These berries are not edible for humans but attract birds and other wildlife.

The White Fringe Tree is tolerant of clay soils, saline soils, and air pollution but does not do well in prolonged dry conditions.

Opata Cherry Plum Quick Facts

White Fringe Tree Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 5 m (15 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 5 m (15 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: medium
Suckering: medium
Maintenance: medium


Flowers: fragrant, white clusters
Fruit: skin green and red, flesh yellow-green
Berries: blue to black
Fruit size: 3 cm in diameter
Flavor: pleasant and sweet, hint of acidity
Harvest: mid to late August
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: opata chum, opata plum cherry
Other Names: american fringe tree, american fringetree, fringe tree, fringetree, north american fringe tree, white fringetree