Damson

A damson is a kind of plum. Like the plum, it comes from the Rosaceae family. Originally, the fruit comes from the Mediterranean. Damsons are thought to be members of the 'European Plum' family, which also includes greengage, mirabelle, quetsche, and Italian prune plums. The damson is generally less sweet than other kinds of plum and is used in jams, jellies, and liqueurs.

Damson
Ripe damsons
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Prunus
Subgenus:	P. subg. Prunus
Section:	P. sect. Prunus
Species:	P. domestica
Subspecies:	P. d. subsp. insititia
Trinomial name
Prunus domestica subsp. insititia (L.) C.K.Schneid.

Damson Media

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  Flowers of the damson (Prunus domestica subsp. insititia).

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  Comparison of plum stones: Shropshire damson shown top row, second from left (no. 2). From Charles Darwin's Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication

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  Shropshire Damson, shown at centre left. Other plums shown are Imperial Gage (labelled 1), Lombard (3), Maynard (4) and Yellow Egg (5).

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  Slivovitz is a distilled beverage made from damson plums.