Prunus and Pliny uses "prūnus silvestris" to mean the blackthorn. The word is not native Latin, but is a loan from Greek προῦνον ("prounon"), which is a variant of προῦμνον ("proumnon"), origin unknown. The tree is προύμνη ("proumnē"). Most dictionaries follow Hoffman, "Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen", in making some form of the word a loan from a pre-Greek language of Asia Minor, related to Phrygian. The first use of "Prunus" as a genus name was by Carl Linnaeus in "Hortus Cliffortianus" of 1737, which went on to become "Species Plantarum". In that work, Linnaeus attributes the word to "Varr.", who it
Prunus napaulensis conspecific. Prunus napaulensis Prunus napaulensis is a species of bird cherry native to the eastern foothills of the Himalayas, including Nepal, Myanmar and China. A tree, it can reach 27m and prefers to grow between 1800 and 3000m above sea level. The fruit is edible, and it is cultivated for its fruit in Assam (and presumably elsewhere). Its wood is used locally for making furniture. It goes by many common names across its range, including jangali aru and arupate (Nepalese), arupaty (Bengali), sohiong (Khasi), sajong (Assamese) and 粗梗稠李 "crude stalk thick plum" (Chinese). "Prunus bracteopadus" is a very similar species,