Renaming prunes as dried plums may be botanically correct- I don't know - but as M'sieu Ted and MMario said above, they certainly are not the same in practice. Their flesh texture and taste are very different. And in the spring there are few blossoms prettier than a prune orchard. In Oregon I have some hillside property. Below me is a prune orchard and in the spring it is a delicate sea of froth.

When I was a kid our family orchard had many varieties of fruitbearing trees, with 3 or 4 trees given over to each. There was one we called a 'silver prune'. Is anyone familiar with that? It was a goldish color, shaped like a prune but somebody said that it was actually a plum.

I read once that if you are unsure whether it is a plum or is a prune, boil it. The prune will be sweet, the plum will be tart.