This is a extract from "survival skills of native california" a book I highly recommend iv often wondered if plum kernels were edible and what a good resource they could be if I knew lost knowledge anyway here goes..... Large quantities of wild plum(prunus ilicifolia) known as hollyleaf cherry or islay who's shiny holly like foliage crowds the canyons and chaparral of southern California, were gathered by the cahuilla in august,according to barrows.The fruits were spread in the sun until the slight pulp,which could be eaten fresh ,had shrunk and dried.Then the thin shells of the large pits were easily cracked and the kernels removed.These nut meats were pounded in the mortar,like acorns and leached in a large shallow basket of thin branches covered with carefully selected sand.As with acorns the meal was spread over a depression in the sand and water poured through it .With the poison removed ,the Cahuilla boiled the meal into mush.
