ITALIAN PRUNE
Prunus domestica
1. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 152. 1831. 2. Prince Pom. Man. 2:78. 1832. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 262. 1832. 4. Manning Book of Fruits 106. 1838. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 214, 220. 1836. 6. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 381. 1857. 7. Cultivator 8:52 fig. 1860. 8. Hogg Fruit Man. 366. 1866. 9. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 924. 1869. 10. Pom. France 7: No. 22, fig. 1871. 11. Mas Le Verger 6:69, fig. 35. 1866-73. 12. Oberdieck Deut. Obst. Sort. 442. 1881. 13. Lauche Deut. Pom. No. 2, Pl. 4, 22. 1882. 14. Barry Fr. Garden 412. 1883. 15. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 360. 1887. 16. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 436. 1889. 17. Wickson Cal. Fruits 358. 1891. 18. Guide Prat. 155, 362. 1895. 19. Oregon Sta. Bul. 45:23 fig. 1897. 20. Cornell Sta. Bul. 131:187, fig. 44. 1897. 21. Wash. Sta. Bul. 38:7, 8. 1899. 22. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 44:92. 1899. 23. Waugh Plum Cult. 111 fig. 1901. 24. U. S. D. A. Div. Pom. Bul. 10:6. 1901. 25. Mass. Sta. An. Rpt. 17:158. 1905.
Altesse Double 8, 9, 10, 15, 18. August Zwetsche 16. Auguste Zwetsche 10, 18. Blaue Riesenzwetsche 16, 18. Bleue d’Italie 15. Couetsche d’Italie 18. Couetsche Fellenberg 10, 18. D’Italie 18. Double Blackpruim 16, 18. Fausse Altesse 16, 18. Fellemberg 14. Fellemberg 8, 16, 18. Fellenberg 5, 9, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23. Fellenburg 22. Fellenberg 5, 6, 7, 9, 17. Fellenburg 25. Feltemberg 10, 18. Fellenberg Quetsche 16, 18. Fellenberger Zwetsche 12, 13, 16, 18. Grosse Früh Zwetsche? 16. German Prune 19, 22. Italienische Blaue Zwetsche 11, 16. Italianische blaue zwetsche 18. Italian Guetsche 10, 18. Italian Prune 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 25. Italian Quetsche 8, 9, 15, 16. Italianische Zwetsche 18. Italienische Pflaumen Zwetsche 16. Italienische Zwetsche 11, 13. Italianische Zwetsche 10. Italianische blanc Zwetsche 10. Italienische Zwetsche 12, 13, 16. Large German Prune 17. Prune d’Italie 8, 9, 10, 16. Pflaume mit dem Pfirschenblatt 18. Pflaume Mit dem Pfirsichblatt 16. Prune Suisse 6. Quetsche 18. Quetsche Bleue d’Italie 10, 11, 16, 18. Quetsche d’Italie 1, 10, 11, 15, 18. Quetsche d’Italie 3, 8, 9, 11, 16. Schweizer Zwetsche 12, 13, 16. Schweizerzwetsche 18. Swiss Prune 17, 19, 22. Semiana 8, 10, 16, 18. Turkish Prune 22. Zwetsche von Dätlikon 16, 18.
The Italian Prune is one of the most widely grown of all plums. Its home is Italy and it is grown in all of the plum regions of continental Europe; is well known in England; is third or fourth in popularity in the Atlantic States of America; is by long odds the leading plum in the Pacific Northwest where it is chiefly used in prune-making and is grown somewhat for prunes and for shipping green in California. There are several reasons why this plum is so popular. To begin with, it is finely flavored whether eaten out of hand, stewed or otherwise prepared for the table or cured as a prune. The fruit is a little too tart to be ranked as a first-rate dessert plum and yet it is one of the best of the prunes for this purpose, though it must be fully ripe to be fit for dessert; in cooking it changes to a dark, wine color, very attractive in appearance, with a most pleasant, sprightly flavor; as a cured prune the flesh is firm and meaty, yet elastic, of good color and a perfect freestone, making when cooked the same attractive looking, fine-flavored, sprightly sauce to be had from the green fruits; the prunes from this variety, too, are noted for long-keeping. In the uncured state the variety keeps and ships well. The trees are usually large, hardy, productive, well formed and bear regularly; yet they are not ideal and the variety fails chiefly in tree-characters. The trees are often capricious to soil and climate, do not always bear well, seem to be susceptible to diseases, are preyed upon by insects and suffer in particular from dry or hot weather. Were all of these troubles of the tree to befall the variety at one time it would of necessity give way to better sorts, but happily they are to be found for most part in illy-adapted conditions or in certain seasons; the Italian Prune well cared for in locations to which it is suited must long remain one of the leading plums despite the faults of the trees.
The Italian Prune originated in Italy at least a century ago and has long been common in northern Italy, especially in the vicinity of Milan. The London Horticultural Society catalog for 1831 first mentions it in England and the following year it was described in America by Prince as an excellent prune recently introduced from Europe. The American Pomological Society recommended it in 1856 as worthy of further testing and in 1862 it was added to the fruit catalog list of this society. The origin of the name Fellenberg, a very common synonym, is explained by Lauche[218] who says: “It came to Germany through a Mr. Fellenberg and is therefore spread under his name and also under the names Schweizerzwetsche and Fellenberger Zwetsche.” He further adds that the variety “is still not known in Germany as it deserves, considering its quality, size and productiveness.”
Tree of medium size, rather vigorous, spreading or upright, low-topped, hardy, usually productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with small, raised lenticels; branchlets short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-drab, pubescent, with small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed; leaf-scars large.
Leaves folded upward, obovate or oval, two inches wide, four and one-half inches long; upper surface dark green, pubescent; lower surface silvery-green, heavily pubescent; apex and base acute, margin doubly crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole five-eighths inch long, above medium thickness, pubescent, tinged red, with from one to three globose, greenish-brown glands usually on the stalk.
Season of bloom intermediate and short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and three-sixteenths inches across, in the buds tinged yellow, changing to white when expanded; borne on lateral spurs, rarely on lateral buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-quarters inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent at the base; calyx-lobes long and narrow, acute or narrowly obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces and along the glandular-serrate margin, reflexed, inclined to curl at the tips; petals oval or obovate, dentate, tapering to broad claws of medium length; anthers yellowish; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit late, season short; one and seven-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, long-oval, enlarged on the suture side, slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity very shallow and narrow, abrupt; suture shallow to medium; apex bluntly pointed; color purplish-black, overspread with very thick bloom; dots numerous, small, light brown, somewhat conspicuous; stem inserted at one side of the base, one inch in length, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, somewhat tough, separating readily; flesh greenish-yellow changing to yellow, juicy, firm, subacid, slightly aromatic; very good to best; stone free, smaller than the cavity, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, roughened and pitted, necked at the base, abruptly tipped at the apex; ventral suture prominent, heavily ridged, sometimes strongly winged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.
JAPEX
Triflora ×
1. N. Y. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 12:611. 1893.
Japanese Seedling X. 1.
This plum, parentage unknown, was received from Burbank by the New York Experiment Station in 1893 for testing, under the name Japanese Seedling X. While in no way wonderfully remarkable, its earliness, attractive color, good quality and productiveness have been such that it has been retained, the cumbersome name having been changed to Japex. The majority of the characters of the variety are plainly those of Triflora, yet the fruits in appearance would lead one to call it a Domestica.
Tree very large, vigorous, vasiform, very productive; branches slender, sparingly thorny; leaf-scars thick; leaf-buds unusually short; leaves obovate or ovate, two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long; margin finely serrate varying to crenate, with few dark glands; blooming season short; flowers appearing before the leaves; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs.
Fruit very early, season short; one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, dark purplish-red or purplish-black, covered with medium thick bloom; flesh light yellow, very juicy, somewhat melting, sweet next to the skin, but tart near the pit, aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval.
JEFFERSON
JEFFERSON
Prunus domestica
1. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 279, 280 fig. 108. 1845, 2. Horticulturist 1:11, 93. 1846. 3. Floy-Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 420. 1846. 4. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 325, 326, fig. 251. 1849. 5. Mag. Hort. 16:453 fig. 25. 1850. 6. Hovey Fr. Am. 2:1, Pl. 1851. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 54. 1852. 8. Elliott Fr. Book 411. 1854. 9. Thompson Gard. Ass’t 518, Pl. 1. 1859. 10. Mas Le Verger 6:17, Pl. 9. 1866-73. 11. Pom. France 7: No. 28. 1871. 12. Hogg Fruit Man. 707. 1884. 13. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 95, Col. Pl. 1894. 14. Cornell Sta. Bul. 131:188. 1897.
Bingham incor. 2, 8. Prune Jefferson 11.
Jefferson has long been popular in America and is highly spoken of by English, French and German pomologists as well, possibly ranking highest in the Old World of all Domesticas which have had their origin in America. The popularity of the variety is waning, however, chiefly because it is lacking in the essentials demanded in a market fruit. There can be no question as to the standing of Jefferson as to quality—it is one of the best of all dessert plums. Grown under favorable conditions and when fully ripe, it is a golden-yellow with a delicate blush and bloom, large for a plum in the Reine Claude group, a well-turned oval in shape, withal one of the handsomest plums. The color-plate maker did not do it justice. It fails as a market variety because the trees are late in coming in bearing, not always certain in bearing, a little particular as to soils and not quite hardy though one of the hardiest of all Reine Claudes. Both tree and fruit are too delicate for the market-grower and the market-men. As to its value for private places and fruit connoisseurs there can be no doubt—it is one of the choicest. It would seem that there should be a place for Jefferson for the fancy trade in the markets, as it would grace the show-window of any delicatessen store; but unfortunately there are few fruit-growers in America to cater to such a trade.
Jefferson was raised by a Judge Buel, Albany, New York, about 1825. The originator presented a tree of this variety to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1829, and in 1841 trees were given to the London Horticultural Society which fruited in 1845. The parentage of the variety is unknown; Floy thought it was a seedling of Washington; Elliott suggested that it was “from a seed of Coe’s Golden Drop, which in growth and wood, it closely resembles.” In 1852, the American Pomological Society placed this variety on its catalog list of fruits worthy of general cultivation.
Tree medium to large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, hardy at Geneva, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with small, numerous, lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dark brownish-red, dull, lightly pubescent, with inconspicuous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, appressed.
Leaves folded upward, obovate, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thick; upper surface sparingly pubescent, with a grooved midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, pubescent; apex and base acute, margin serrate, with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, tinged purplish-red along one side, glandless or with from one to three small, globose, yellowish glands usually on the stalk.
Season of bloom medium, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-quarters inch long, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous, with a swollen ring at the base; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate and with fine marginal hairs, erect; petals roundish or obovate, dentate, tapering to very short and broad claws; anthers yellowish; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; one and five-eighths inches by one and one-half inches in size, roundish-oval, not compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture very shallow, indistinct; apex roundish; color greenish-yellow, changing to bronze-yellow, sometimes with faint pink blush on the exposed cheek, often indistinctly streaked and mottled with green before full maturity; dots numerous, very small, gray or reddish, inconspicuous; stem seven-eighths inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, slightly adhering; flesh deep yellow, juicy, firm but tender, sweet, mild, pleasant; very good; stone semi-free, one inch by three-quarters inch in size, flattened, broadly oval, abruptly tipped, with a short neck at the base, blunt at the apex, with rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture heavily furrowed, winged; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove.
JUICY
JUICY
Prunus munsoniana × Prunus triflora
1. Burbank Cat. 20. 1893. 2. Cal. State Bd. Hort. 53. 1897. 3. Vt. Sta. Bul. 67:15. 1898. 4. Ohio Sta. Bul. 113:161. 1899. 5. Conn. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 155. 1900. 6. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:256. 257. 1905. 7. Mass. Sta. An. Rpt. 17:161. 1905.
Juicy has been widely tested and in general is considered of very little cultural importance, failing chiefly because of the inferior quality of the plums. The variety is an interesting cross, however, and has given a tree so much more vigorous and so much better adapted to orchard purposes than its native parent, quite equalling the Triflora parent in tree-characters, as to suggest the value of this cross for improving the trees of our native plums. This plum, like Golden, was grown by Luther Burbank from a seed of Robinson fertilized by pollen of Abundance. In 1893 the originator sold the new variety to John Lewis Childs, Floral Park, New York, who introduced it the following year. The variety has not escaped without some confusion as to its origin for its parentage has been published as a cross between Robinson and Kelsey.[219]
Tree very large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, productive; branches sparingly thorny; leaves broadly oblanceolate or oval, one and one-quarter inches wide, three inches long; margin finely serrate or sometimes crenate, with dark reddish-glands; petiole short, slender, with from two to five globose glands on the stalk; blooming season of medium length; flowers appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across; borne in dense clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or fours; anthers so numerous as to give a yellowish color to the flower-clusters.
Fruit mid-season, period of ripening long; one and three-quarters inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, nearly round, dark golden-yellow with bright red blush, covered with thin bloom; flesh golden-yellow, very juicy, melting, sweet next to the skin, but tart at the pit, aromatic; of fair quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, with slightly pitted surfaces.
KELSEY
Prunus triflora
1. Gard. Mon. 24:339. 1882. 2. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 272. 1886. 3. Gard. Mon. 29:305, 335-367. 1887. 4. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 635, 652. 1887. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 95, 126. 1887. 6. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 35. 1888. 7. Ibid. 51, 99. 1889. 8. Rev. Hort. 502, 542. 1890. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 105, 106, 125. 1891. 10. Am. Gard. 13:700. 1892. 11. Cornell Sta. Bul. 62:3, 24. 1894. 12. Tex. Sta. Bul. 32:488 fig., 489. 1894. 13. Cornell Sta. Bul. 106:53. 1896. 14. Ala. Col. Sta. Bul. 85:447. 1897. 15. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 41. 1899. 16. Waugh Plum Cult. 137. 1901. 17. N. C. Sta. Bul. 184:120. 1903. 18. Ga. Sta. Bul. 68:15, 31. 1905.
Botankin 7. Botankin 3. Hattankio 7. Kelsey’s Japan 2, 3, 5. Sinomo 7. Togari 7.
Kelsey is distinguished as the largest, the latest and the tenderest to cold of all Triflora plums in America. The variety is not much hardier than the fig and cannot be safely planted north of Washington and Baltimore. The tree is vigorous, well formed and productive, having for its worst fault susceptibility to shot-hole fungus. The plums are large, very attractive in color and the flesh is firm, the plums being well fitted for shipping, with a rich, pleasant, aromatic flavor making the fruit very good in quality. In the South both curculio and brown-rot attack the fruits rather badly. It is unfortunate that this plum cannot be grown in this latitude.
Kelsey, the first of the Triflora plums introduced into America, was brought into the country by a Mr. Hough of Vacaville, California, in 1870, through the United States consul in Japan. John Kelsey of Berkeley, California, obtained trees from Hough and propagated it in his nursery to a limited extent. The first fruit was shown by Kelsey in 1877, though fruit is said to have been produced in 1876. In 1883, W. P. Hammon and Company, Oakland, California, secured stock of this plum from the heirs of Mr. Kelsey and the following year extensive sales were made. The plum was named in honor of the man who did most to bring it before the public. The American Pomological Society added the Kelsey to its fruit catalog list in 1889. The following description is compiled.
Tree vigorous, upright, vasiform, tender, productive, an early and regular bearer; leaves somewhat scant, small, lanceolate, narrow; blooming season early; fruit very late, season long; keeps and ships unusually well; large, cordate, conical, halves unequal; suture variable in depth; apex pointed; color rather unattractive yellow, tinged and splashed with red, often overspread with purple, with attractive bloom, more or less marked with conspicuous dots; stem sometimes adhering poorly to the fruit; skin tender; flesh delicate yellow, juicy, firm and meaty, rich, pleasant, aromatic; good to very good; stone clinging unless well ripened, small, in an irregular cavity larger than the pit.
KERR
Prunus triflora
1. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 52. 1889. 2. Am. Gard. 12:307, 501. 1891. 3. Ibid. 13:700. 1892. 4. Kerr Cat. 1894. 5. Cornell Sta. Bul. 62:25. 1894. 6. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 95. 1895. 7. Ala. Sta. Bul. 85:443. 1897. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 41. 1899. 9. Cornell Sta. Bul. 175:136. 1899. 10. Waugh Plum Cult. 137. 1901. 11. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. XIII. 1904. 12. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:256, 257. 1905.
Hattankio 1. Hattankio 7. Hattankin No. 2. 2, 3. Hattonkin No. 2. 4, 5, 10. Hattonkin 9. Hattankio No. 2. 6, 11. Hattankio Oblong 9, 11. Hattankio 10. Hattan 10. Hytankio 10. Hytan-Kayo 10.
Kerr is about the best of the yellow Trifloras and is one of the best of all early plums of its species. It is very productive, sometimes over-bearing, and should always be thinned. The quality of the plums is good and the fruits are attractive in appearance. The faults of the variety are that the fruits drop as they ripen, though they color if picked green, and in some localities the tree-characters are poor. This variety was imported from Japan by Frost and Burgess, Riverside, California, and was distributed under the group name Hattankio No. 2 or Hattonkin No. 2. As Georgeson was also distributed under the same name, though under a different number, confusion resulted. To better distinguish between the two, L. H. Bailey, in 1894, named Hattonkin No. 2 Kerr, in honor of J. W. Kerr, the noted plum specialist, of Denton, Maryland. In 1899 the variety was placed on the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society. The following description is compiled.
Tree large, vigorous, upright, very productive; leaves large, thick; blooming season late. Fruit early; of medium size unless thinned, when it becomes large, variable in form, but usually heart-shaped, yellow with thin bloom; skin thick; flesh yellow, firm, subacid, sweet; fair to good; stone clinging, of medium size, oval, turgid.
KING DAMSON
Prunus insititia
1. Watkins Nur. Cat. 48. 1892?. 2. Am. Gard. 14:146, 147. 1893. 3. Garden 53:265. 1898. 4. Can. Exp. Farm Bul. 2nd Ser. 3:51. 1900. 5. Thompson Gard. Ass’t 4:161. 1901.
Bradley’s King 5. Bradley’s King of Damsons 3. King of Damsons 1, 2.
The fruit of King Damson runs large for a Damson and the flavor is agreeable, so agreeable that the variety is really a very good dessert fruit late in the season. This Damson is little grown in America and deserves much wider cultivation. A peculiarity of the plum is that there is always more or less doubling of the petals. Very little is known regarding the history of this excellent variety, but it seems probable that it originated in Kent, England, where it is much grown.
Tree small, lacking in vigor, upright-spreading, dense-topped, usually productive; branchlets slender, pubescent; leaves folded upward, oval or slightly obovate, one inch wide, two and three-quarters inches long; margin serrate, usually with small dark glands; petiole with one or two glands on the stalk; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, usually with more than five petals, one inch across, white with a yellow tinge at the apex; borne on lateral spurs or from lateral buds, singly or in pairs.
Fruit late, season long; one and one-eighth inches by seven-eighths inch in size, oval, slightly necked, black, with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, juicy, firm, sprightly, becoming sweet late in the season; of good quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by three-eighths inch in size, irregular-ovate, slightly necked.
KIRKE
Prunus domestica
1. Pom. Mag. 3:111, Pl. 1830. 2. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 149. 1831. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 263. 1832. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 306. 1845. 5. Floy-Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 281, 382. 1846. 6. Mag. Hort. 15:488 fig. 43. 1849. 7. Thompson Gard. Ass’t 518, Pl. 1. 1859. 8. Mas Le Verger 6:15, fig. 8. 1866-73. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1875. 10. Pom. France 7: No. 26. 1871. 11. Flor. & Pom. 47. 1876. 12. Oberdieck Deut. Obst. Sort. 430. 1881. 13. Lauche Deut. Pom. 16, Pl. IV. 1882. 14. Hogg Fruit Man. 708. 1884. 15. Guide Prat. 154, 358. 1895. 16. Gard. Chron. 24:19. 1898. 17. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 96, Col. Pl. 1894. 18. Rev. Hort. 500. 1898. 19. Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom. 536. 1904.
De Kirke 15. Kirke’s 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14, 17. Kirke’s 8, 10, 15, 17. Kirke’s Pflaume 12, 13. Kirke’s Pflaume 8, 10, 15, 17. Kirke’s Plum 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 16, 18. Kirk’s Plum 3, 5. Kirke 17. Kirke’s Plum 15, 17, 19. Prune de Kirke 18. Prune de Kirke 8, 10, 17. Prune Kirke 19.
All English descriptions of this variety rank it very high both as a dessert and a culinary plum. The variety stands well among the purple plums growing on the grounds of this Station, but since it has been grown in America eighty years, attaining a reputation only of being mediocre in most characters, it is probably not worth planting largely. It has many more worthy competitors in its class and season. Hogg, in the reference given, says the variety was introduced by Joseph Kirke, a nurseryman at Brompton, near London, who, he says, “told me he first saw it on a fruit stall near the Royal Exchange, and that he afterwards found the trees producing the fruit were in Norfolk, whence he obtained grafts and propagated it. But its true origin was in the grounds of Mr. Poupart, a market gardener at Brompton, on the spot now occupied by the lower end of Queen’s Gate and where it sprung up as a sucker from a tree which had been planted to screen an outbuilding. It was given to Mr. Kirke to be propagated and he sold it under the name it now bears.” The variety was introduced into America between 1830 and 1840. The American Pomological Society placed Kirke upon its list of rejected fruits in 1858, added it to the recommended list in 1875, and displaced it in 1899.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, productive; branchlets with long internodes, dull, marked with yellowish-brown scarf-skin; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, free; leaves flattened, obovate or oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and five-eighths inches long, thick, dark green; margin crenate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole one inch long, tinged red, glandless or with from one to four small, yellowish-green glands; blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; borne on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit mid-season, ripening period long; about one and five-eighths inches in diameter, roundish-ovate, dark purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, fibrous, firm, sweet, mild and pleasant; good to very good; stone nearly free, one inch by three-quarters inch in size, ovate or oval, flattened, roughened and deeply pitted, tapering abruptly to a short, pointed apex; ventral suture narrow, with a short but distinct wing; dorsal suture with a wide groove.
LAFAYETTE
Prunus domestica
1. Prince Pom. Man. 2:96. 1832. 2. Tucker’s Gen. Farmer 3:153. 1839. 3. Elliott Fr. Book 427. 1854. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 222, 244. 1858. 5. Hogg Fruit Man. 368. 1866. 6. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 916. 1869. 7. Guide Prat. 160, 359. 1895.
Gifford’s Lafayette 1, 4, 6. Gifford’s La Fayette 2, 3.
Lafayette originated in New York sometime in the first quarter of the last century with a Mr. Gifford from a stone of the Orleans. It did not become popular and was rejected by the American Pomological Society in 1858, but just why it failed is not apparent, judging either from the descriptions given in the above references or by its behavior in the orchard at this Station. The fruit is good, though not remarkable for the richness of its flavor, its size is large and the color attractive. Moreover it is so late as to stand almost alone in its season. A retrial of this old sort commercially might be worth while. The tree is interesting because of a marked tendency in the flowers to develop petals from the stamens.
Tree of medium size, round-topped, productive; branchlets stocky, with long internodes; leaf-scars large; leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, two inches wide, four inches long, rugose; margin crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole pubescent, tinged red, having at the most three small glands usually on the stalk; blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-quarter inches wide, creamy-white; borne in pairs; calyx-lobes long and slender.
Fruit very late, season long; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval, purplish-black, overspread with very thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, medium juicy, tender, sweet, mild and pleasant; of good quality; stone free or nearly so, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, with an acute and slightly oblique apex.
LAIRE
Prunus orthosepala?
Laire is cultivated locally in Rooks and neighboring counties in Kansas and is highly spoken of by those who grow it. The description of the variety is made from information sent from the United States Department of Agriculture. For a further account of this plum the reader is referred to the discussion of Prunus orthosepala, page 97. The name is derived from that of the man who first brought the plums under cultivation some twenty or twenty-five years ago.
Tree dwarfish, dense-topped, not very productive; branches spiny, zigzag; branchlets thick, reddish-brown changing to dark brown; leaves oblong-ovate, light green, acuminate, with margins closely serrate and seldom with glandular teeth; petiole slender, one-half inch long, with two glands at the apex; flowers white or tinged with pink, appearing after the leaves; borne in threes or in fours; pedicels thick, one-half inch long; petals narrowly clawed; stamens orange.
Fruit mid-season; one and one-eighth inches in diameter, roundish, greenish-yellow overlaid with deep red, covered with thick bloom; skin thick; flesh yellow, meaty, juicy, mild subacid; good to very good; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by nine-sixteenths inch in size, flattened, oval, with rugose surfaces; grooved on the dorsal and ridged on the ventral suture.
LARGE ENGLISH
Prunus domestica
1. Oberdieck Deut. Obst. Sort. 443. 1881. 2. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 429, 433. 1889.
Englische Zwetsche 2. Grosse Englische Zwetsche 2. Grosse Englische Zwetsche 1, 2. Grosse Englische Pflaumen Zwetsche 2. Grosse Zwetsche? 2. Schweizer Zwetsche 2 incor.
This appears to be a most excellent plum closely resembling the Italian Prune and surpassing that well-known variety in some respects. As compared with Italian Prune, the fruit of Large English runs larger, is slightly more conical, having the ventral swelling near the base, thus giving it more of a shoulder. The flavor is sweeter and richer than that of the Italian Prune. There appear to be practically no differences between the trees, the foliage and the flowers of the two kinds. Wherever the Italian is successfully grown it may be well worth while to try the Large English. The relation the word English has to this prune is unknown. Oberdieck, in 1881, wrote that this variety resembled the Italian Prune in fruit, but differed in that it had a noticeably broader leaf; he adds “it has been incorrectly called the Swiss Prune and is much spread in Germany under the name of Italian Prune.” E. R. Lake, of the United States Department of Agriculture, brought it to America, in 1901, from the Pomological Institute, Reutlingen, Wurtemburg, Germany. Lake’s stock was tested at this Station and the variety agrees with Oberdieck’s description.
Tree of average size, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, productive; branchlets with, long internodes; leaf-scars enlarged; leaves folded upward, oval or obovate, nearly one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thick, rugose; margin crenate or almost serrate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole pubescent, tinged red, with from two to four globose glands; blooming season intermediate in time, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; petals long, narrow, white, in the buds tipped with yellow; borne singly or in pairs; stamens tend to become petals.
Fruit late, season of medium length; one and three-quarters inches by one and one-half inches in size, long-ovate, purplish-black, with thick bloom; dots numerous, conspicuous; flesh yellowish with a trace of red at full maturity at both skin and stone, juicy, very sweet, aromatic, with a pleasant flavor; very good to best; stone free, the cavity larger than the pit, often brownish-red, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flattened, with an oblique apex; ventral suture prominent, usually with a distinct wing; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove.
LATE MIRABELLE
Prunus insititia
1. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 150. 1831. 2. Barry Fr. Garden 339. 1851. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 388. 1857. 4. Hogg Fruit Man. 353. 1866. 5. Downing Fr. Trees. Am. 901. 1869. 6. Pom. France 7: No. 20. 1871. 7. Mas Le Verger 6:7. 1866-73. 8. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 352. 1887. 9. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 442, 449. 1889. 10. Guide Prat. 162, 360. 1895. 11. Baltet Cult. Fr. 493. 1908.
Bricette 9. Bricetta 5. Bricet 5, 9. Bricette 6, 8, 10. Brisette 6, 7, 10. Bricette 4. Die Brisette 9. Kleine Brisette 9. La Bricette 9. Mirabelle Tardive 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11. Mirabelle Tardive 4, 5, 6, 9. Mirabelle d’Octobre 2. Mirabelle d’Octobre 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. October Mirabelle 9. Petit Bricette 5, 9. Petite Bricette 4, 6, 10. Runde Brisette 9. Späte Mirabelle 6, 8, 9, 10.
In France, where all of the Mirabelles are highly esteemed, the Late Mirabelle is much grown because of its season. The variety is practically unknown in America, but, judging from its behavior at Geneva, well deserves widespread trial, as do all the Mirabelles. The history of this variety is unknown other than that it is an old sort, having been mentioned in the London Horticultural Society catalog as long ago as 1831. In 1851, Barry, of Rochester, New York, described the Mirabelle d’Octobre, which is identical with Late Mirabelle, and said that it had been recently introduced from France.
Tree medium in size and vigor, very hardy, productive; branches smooth; leaves small, oval, one and one-quarter inches wide, two inches long; margin finely serrate, with few, dark glands; petiole slender, glandless or with one or two glands at the base of the leaf.
Fruit late; small, roundish-oval, greenish-yellow, often with a light blush on the sunny side, covered with thin bloom; stem short, slender; flesh yellow, very juicy, aromatic, sweet; good; stone semi-free.
LATE MUSCATELLE
Prunus domestica
1. Lucas Vollst. Hand. Obst. 470. 1894. 2. Can. Exp. Farm Bul. 2nd Ser. 3:53. 1900. 3. U. S. D. A. Div. Pom. Bul. 10:22. 1901.
Late Muscatel 2. Späte Muskateller 3. Späte Muskatellerpflaume 1.
This variety was obtained by the United States Department of Agriculture from the Pomological Institute at Reutlingen, Germany, in 1900, and was soon after sent to this Station to test. In some respects, in fruit-characters in particular, the variety is promising, but not sufficiently so to recommend it to fruit-growers, even for trial.
Tree of medium size and vigor, upright-spreading, productive; branchlets thick; with short internodes, pubescent; leaf-scars prominent; leaves drooping, folded upward, obovate, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and three-eighths inches long, leathery; margin crenate, eglandular or with few, small, dark glands; petiole thick, pubescent, glandless or with from one to three glands; blooming season intermediate in time; and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across; borne in scattering clusters, singly or in pairs; petals white, creamy-white as they open; anthers tinged red.
Fruit late, season short; medium in size, roundish, slightly truncate, purplish-brown, splashed and mottled with russet about the base, overspread with thick bloom; flesh greenish-yellow, sweet; good to very good; stone often reddish, clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, somewhat flat, irregular-oval, with slightly pitted surfaces.
LATE ORLEANS
LATE ORLEANS
Prunus domestica
1. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 151. 1831. 2. Mag. Hort. 164. 1843. 3. Jour. Hort. N. S. 15:301. 1868. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 927. 1869. 5. Guide Prat. 161, 360. 1895. 6. Garden 49:268. 1896. 7. Rivers Cat. 33. 1898.
Black Orleans 1, 2, 5. Late Black Orleans 3, 4. Late Black Orleans 5. Late Orleans 5. Monsieur Noir Tardif 5. Orleans Late Black 5.
This is another variety having only a European reputation to recommend it in America. The fruits of Late Orleans are handsome in color and shape, but are not large enough to enable them to compete in the markets with other late purple plums and are so poor in quality as to be worthless as dessert fruits. In Europe the variety is rated high for culinary purposes and fruit-growers there like it because it hangs well to the tree and keeps and ships well. The trees are very satisfactory in practically all respects. It is doubtful if the variety is worth further trial in America.
Late Orleans was mentioned in the catalog of the Horticultural Society of London in 1831, but was not described. No account seems to have ever been published of its origin, but it is probably related to or descended from the Orleans since they are very similar in tree and shape of fruit, differing only in size and color of fruit.
Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, hardy, very productive; branches smooth, dark ash-gray, with numerous, small lenticels; branchlets medium to slender, with long internodes, greenish-red changing to dull reddish-brown, dull, pubescent, marked with gray scarf-skin and with small lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, conical, appressed.
Leaves flattened, oval or obovate, one and one-quarter inches wide, two and one-quarter inches long; upper surface sparingly pubescent, with a deeply grooved midrib; lower surface heavily pubescent along the midrib; apex abruptly pointed, base broadly cuneate, margin finely crenate, with small, dark glands; petiole one-half inch long, slender, pubescent, faintly tinged with red, glandless or with from one to four small, globose, yellowish glands usually on the stalk.
Flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube, green, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, pubescent, glandular-serrate and with marginal hairs, erect; petals roundish or broadly ovate, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellow with a reddish tinge; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit late, season long; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture a line; apex roundish; color dark purple, overspread with thick bloom; dots few, reddish-brown; stem three-quarters inch long, pubescent at the base, adhering well to the fruit; skin toughish, slightly astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, dry, tender, sweet, mild; fair in quality; stone clinging, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, flattened, slightly roughened, blunt at the base and apex; ventral suture rather narrow, blunt; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.
LAWRENCE
Prunus domestica
1. Cultivator 10:167. 1843. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 54. 1852. 3. Elliott Fr. Book 412. 1854. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 928. 1869. 5. Pom. France 7: No. 29. 1871. 6. Mas Le Verger 6:75. 1866-73. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 710. 1884. 8. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 349. 1887. 9. Guide Prat. 364. 1895. 10. Waugh Plum Cult. 112. 1901.
Favorite de Lawrence 6, 9. Lawrence Favorite 5. Lawrences Reine Claude 9. Lawrence’s Favorite 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. Lawrence’s Gage 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9. Lawrence’s Favorite 6, 8, 9, 10. Lawrence Gage 8. Prune Lawrence Gage 5. Reine-Claude de Lawrence 6, 9. Reine-Claude de Lawrence 4, 5, 8.
This variety is surpassed in the quality of its fruits by few plums. The trees bear young and abundantly and the fruit hangs well on the tree; unfortunately, the plums do not ship nor keep well and the variety thus fails as a market sort. It is, however, a delicious dessert fruit, deserving to be grown in every plum connoisseur’s garden. Lawrence is a seedling of Reine Claude, and was grown by L. V. Lawrence of Hudson, New York, some time during the second quarter of the last century. As its large size and superior quality became known its popularity increased, until it was cultivated not only in America, but to some extent throughout western Europe. During the last twenty-five years, however, it has waned in popularity, having been superseded by better commercial varieties, though it still ranks high as a dessert plum. The American Pomological Society placed Lawrence in its catalog in 1852, and retained it there until 1899.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, productive; trunk and branches rough, with large lenticels; branchlets brash, dark reddish-brown, pubescent; leaves folded upward, oval, two inches wide, three and three-quarters inches long, thick, leathery, rugose; margin doubly serrate, with small glands; petiole pubescent, usually with two small glands.
Fruit medium early; one and three-eighths inches in diameter, roundish, greenish-yellow, covered with thin bloom; skin thin, tender, slightly astringent; flesh yellowish, fibrous, tender, sweet, aromatic; very good; stone free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, turgid, nearly smooth.
LINCOLN
Prunus domestica