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On his list for building “food habitats” are not just native fruiting shrubs and trees such as blueberries, elderberries, beach plums, persimmons and pawpaws but herbaceous perennials with edible features.

Plum Island, it’s called, named for its native beach plums.

I’m going to throw beach plums in here, because sandy soil that won’t grow much else, with which I have extensive experience, will suit beach plums just fine.

I watched thousands of tree swallows swarming in the shrubbery of bayberry and beach plum.

Their names are playful: squashberries, wild beach plums, mayhaw, snowberries and the dreamily named cloudberry.