Names
The plant is known by a number of different names in English, including Chinese plum and Japanese apricot. An alternative name is ume, from Japanese, or mume, from the scientific name. Another alternative name is mei, from the Chinese name.
The flower is known as the meihua (梅花), which came to be translated as "plum blossom" or sometimes as "flowering plum". The term "winter plum" may be used too, specifically with regard to the depiction of the flower with its early blooming in Chinese painting.
In Chinese it is called méi (梅) and the fruit is called méizi (梅子). The Japanese name is ume (kanji: 梅; hiragana: うめ), while the Korean name is maesil (hangul: 매실; hanja: 梅實). The Japanese and Korean terms derive from Middle Chinese, in which the pronunciation is thought to have been muəi. The Vietnamese name is mai or mơ (although mai may also refer to a different plant, Ochna integerrima, in the south of Vietnam).
Read more about this topic: Ume
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