The evidence of ancient plums in antiquity is scarce. Luther Burbank (America's most famous pomologist) is the best to show that the European plum Prunus Domestica, as well as its ancestor, originated in the Caucasus Mountains close to the Caspian Sea. Burbank detailed evidence that the prune (dried plum) was a staple food of the Tartars, Mongols, Turks, and Huns "who maintained a crude horticulture from a very early period." Many websites suggest that the European plum Prunus domestica seeds weren't found in Pompeii's ruins after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, 79 AD. This suggests that the plum may have been a hybrid of a "spontaneous" chromosome that doubled to produce a hexaploid offspring. plumming
Prince Nursery, Flushing, New York was the first to mention plum history in America. It was founded in 1737. In 1771, it published an advertisement for "33 types of plums". These plum trees were likely Prunus domestica, European plums. Henry Laurens, Wililam's friend and guest, introduced olives to the United States. From the south of France he introduced apples, pears, plums, and the white Chasselas grape which bore abundantly. Henry Laurens lived in Charleston, South Carolina and served as a President of the Continental Congress. William Bartram, who wrote the famous Travels book, described two types of American plums. He was on a 1792 trip to Georgia where he discovered Prunus chicasaw and Prunus indica.
Luther Burbank was more involved in improving and hybridizing plum species than any other human being. Burbank's work on the plum group stone fruits is unmatched for his unparalleled contribution to improving different fruits that can be grown and enjoyed today. Burbank states that his importation of twelve plum seedlings in the year 1885 was the "most important importation of fruit bearers ever made at a single time into America." meaning of plumming