Prunus angustifolia. 1. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:58. 1892 (in part). 2. Ibid. Ev. Nat. Fr. 191-194. 1898 (in part). 3. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:99, 105. 1897 (in part).
Prunus hortulana. 4. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:48. 1892 (in part). 5. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 10:99, 103-105. 1896-97 (in part).
Tree medium to large, from twenty to thirty feet in height; trunk six to ten inches in diameter; bark grayish-brown, shaggy, furrowed; branches spreading, rather slender, zigzag, little or not at all thorny; branchlets slender, zigzag, reddish, lustrous, glabrous; lenticels numerous, large, raised.
Winter-buds small, short, obtuse, usually free; leaves one and one-quarter inches wide by four inches long, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, sometimes broadly so, somewhat folded, apex acute or tapering, usually rounded at the base, texture thin, margins closely and finely serrate, teeth with small, dark red glands; upper surface bright green, glabrous, lustrous; lower surface dull green, pubescence sparse along the midrib and veins or sometimes tufted in the axils; petioles slender, about three-quarters of an inch long, pubescent on the upper surface, reddish, usually with two glands at the base of the leaf-blade; stipules linear, glandular, serrate.
Flowers appearing before or with the leaves, season of blooming late, about three-quarters inch across, odor sometimes disagreeable; borne on lateral spurs and buds, two or four flowers in a cluster; pedicels one half inch long, slender, glabrous; calyx-tube campanulate, glabrous, obscurely nerved, about one-fourth length of the pedicel; calyx-lobes as long as tube, ovate-oblong, obtuse at the apex, usually glabrous outside, pubescent inside at least toward the base, glandular-ciliate, erect; petals one-third inch long, white, creamy in the bud, oval or obovate, margins slightly erose, abruptly tapering into a claw, sometimes pubescent; stamens about twenty in number, equal to or shorter than the petals; filaments glabrous; anthers yellow or sometimes tinged red; pistils glabrous shorter than the stamens.
Fruit ripening early; globose or oval, shortest diameter about an inch, bright currant-red, rarely yellow; bloom thin; dots few or numerous, whitish, large or small, always conspicuous; cavity shallow, narrow; suture a line; apex rounded or slightly depressed; flesh light to dark yellow, juicy, soft or melting, fibrous, sweetish, sour at the pit, aromatic; good; stone clinging to the flesh, varying from about one-half inch in length in the wild fruits to at least three-quarters inch in cultivated varieties, turgid, oval, prolonged and pointed at the apex, usually obliquely truncate at the base, more or less roughened, grooved on the dorsal edge, thick-margined and markedly grooved on the ventral one.
The description of this species is based on both wild and cultivated material, and the variety Arkansas may be considered as a typical representative. Type specimens, deposited in the Economic Collection of the United States Department of Agriculture, were collected by W. F. Wight (flowers) at the New York State Experiment Station, Geneva, New York, No. 2721, May 15, 1909, and (foliage) at the Iowa Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, No. 4178, September 15, 1909.
This species differs from Prunus angustifolia, with which it has long been confused, chiefly in being a much larger plant, a true tree while the other seldom reaches the size of a tree. It has coarser and less twiggy branches, shaggier bark and less red in the color of the young wood. The leaves are larger, thicker, more truly lanceolate in shape, less folded, a lighter green and less glossy. The flowers of the new species are larger, fewer in number, borne in less dense umbels which are not so nearly sessile as those of the older species and are borne on longer pedicels. The calyx-lobes are erect in this species and reflexed in Prunus angustifolia, strongly marked by marginal glands in Prunus munsoniana and eglandular in Prunus angustifolia. The fruits are larger and wholly plum-like in the newly made species and cherry-like in Prunus angustifolia. The stone is very plum-like in Prunus munsoniana but in the older species it might easily be mistaken for the pit of a cherry. The robust form is hardy as far north as Geneva, New York, at least, while the other species cannot be grown much north of Mason and Dixon’s line.
Of the varieties which certainly belong to this species by far the greatest number have originated under cultivation. There is herbarium material from uncultivated plants to show that this species is rather common in the northern part of Texas, in eastern Oklahoma and in parts of Missouri. It is a species forming dense thickets in its native habitat, where it is usually found in rather rich soils, with the older central specimens sometimes attaining a height of twenty to twenty-five feet and gradually diminishing in height to the edge of the thicket. When budded and grown in the orchard it forms a well-defined trunk and attains a height of twenty-five feet or more. The branches are little or not at all spinescent, bark of the stem in young specimens reddish or chestnut-brown, and usually rather smooth, becoming scaly and losing its reddish color with age, that of the young twigs usually chestnut-brown. Its natural range, though not yet definitely determined, probably extends from central Tennessee through northern Mississippi, northern Arkansas, central Missouri and southeastern Kansas to the valley of the Little Wichita River in northern Texas.
The Wild Goose varieties, now placed here, in the past have been considered hybrids more closely resembling Prunus hortulana than any other species. But Wild Goose and some other varieties of its group are not to be distinguished from Prunus munsoniana and beyond question belong in this species. The varieties in this division of Munsoniana are largely seedlings of Wild Goose, each variety possibly with a different male parent since Wild Goose seldom or never fruits unless cross-fertilized. Thus, of these plums, twelve are known seedlings of Wild Goose; seven others originated under cultivation; the origin of fourteen is not known and it is not certain that any beside Wild Goose came from wild plants. From such a record, and from the characters of the plants, it is probable that some of the Wild Goose varieties are horticultural hybrids, many of them from H. A. Terry of Iowa in whose work, with many varieties of several species, hybridity was the rule.
Horticulturally, this is the most important group of native plums for the South; it contains a greater number of cultivated varieties than any other native species excepting Prunus americana, no less than sixty sorts being listed in The Plums of New York, some of which are deservedly the best known of the native plums for either home or market use. For dessert or the kitchen they are particularly valuable, having a sprightly vinous flavor making them very pleasant flavored to eat out of hand or when cooked. Their bright colors, semi-transparent skins and well-turned forms make them very attractive in appearance. Considering the juiciness of most of the varieties, these plums ship and keep well. Unfortunately nearly all of the varieties of this species are clingstones. This group hybridizes more freely than any other of the plums and there are a great number of promising hybrids of which it is one of the parents. Of all plums, these are most in need of cross-pollination, some of the varieties being nearly or, as in the case of Wild Goose, wholly self-sterile. While these plums are especially valuable in the Southern States, some of them are desirable in the North as well, where all will grow at least as far north as central New York. Plums of this species are occasionally but not often used as stocks. Some recommend them for stocks for low or wet lands. The fact that Prunus munsoniana suckers very badly will probably preclude its use largely in propagating.
The leading varieties under cultivation of this species are Arkansas, Pottawattamie, Robinson, Newman, Wild Goose and Downing, all of which are described in full and illustrated in colors in The Plums of New York. The first four of these have in the past been referred by botanists and pomologists to Prunus angustifolia and the last two to Prunus hortulana.
1. Marshall Arbust. Am. 112. 1785. 2. Wangenheim Amer. 103. 1787. 3. Michaux Fl. Bor. Am. 1:284. 1803. 4. Pursh Fl. Am. Sept. 332. 1814. 5. Nuttall Gen. N. Am. Pl. 1:302. 1818. 6. Elliott Sk. Bot. S. C. and Ga. 1:543. 1821. 7. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:408. 1840. 8. Torrey Fl. N. Y. 1:194. 1843. 9. Emerson Trees of Mass. 449. 1846. 10. Bailey Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:75, fig. No. 9. 1892. 11. Waugh Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:234. 1899. 12. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1449, fig. 1901.
P. littoralis. 13. Bigelow Fl. Bost. Ed. 2:193. 1824.
P. pubescens. 14. Torrey Fl. U. S. 469. 1824.
Cerasus pubescens. 15. Seringe DC. Prodr. 2:538. 1825. 16. Beck Bot. Nor. and Mid. U. S. 96. 1833.
Shrub four to ten feet high, sometimes a low tree under cultivation; main branches decumbent and straggling or upright and stout; bark dark brown or reddish, more or less spiny, often warty; branchlets slightly pubescent at first, becoming glabrous, dark reddish-brown, straight or slightly zigzag and rather slender; lenticels few, small, dark.
Winter-buds small, long, acute, with small reddish scales; leaves oval or obovate, short-acute or nearly obtuse at the apex, rounded or nearly acute at the base, margins closely and evenly serrate, thinnish or thickish and somewhat leathery; upper surface glabrous, dull green, lower surface paler and more or less pubescent; petioles less than one-half inch long, stout, tomentose or glabrous; glands two, sometimes more, at the base of the leaves.
Flowers small, appearing before the leaves but the latest of any of the hardy plums; borne in three-flowered umbels closely set along the rigid branches; calyx-tube campanulate, tomentose; petals white, sometimes pinkish, sub-orbicular, narrowed into a claw at the base; pedicels short, slender, stiff, tomentose.
Fruit maturing in late summer in Massachusetts; one-half inch in diameter, globose, slightly flattened at the ends; cavity shallow, borne on a slender pedicel more than one-half inch in length, usually dark purple with a heavy bloom but variable, sometimes red or less frequently yellow; skin thick, tough and acrid; flesh crisp, juicy, sweetish; stone free from the flesh, small, turgid, pointed at both ends, cherry-like, acutely ridged on one and grooved on the other edge.
Prunus maritima, or as it has long been known, the Beach plum, is as yet hardly grown as a domesticated fruit. It is destined, however, in the minds of not a few, because of qualities which we shall describe, to play a more important part in the future of the cultivated plum flora than it has in the past. It has several valuable characters that should fit it alike for direct cultivation and for hybridizing with other species. It is surprising that more has not been done to domesticate the Maritima plums for they were among the first fruits noticed by early explorers and have always been used by both Indians and Whites for culinary purposes. The fact that Domestica plums thrive in their habitat is the only explanation of the non-amelioration of this plum before this.
September third, 1609, Hudson entered the river bearing his name and found “a very good harbor, abundance of blue plums, some currants brought by the natives dried and the country full of great and tall oaks.” The blue plum was the Maritima; and from Hudson’s time nearly all of the accounts of the New World given by early explorers mention this plum. It is probably one of the plums described by Captain John Smith as a cherry “much like a Damson;” by Edward Winslow in 1621, in a letter to England to a friend, as one of his “plums of three sorts”; by Francis Higginson in his New England’s Plantation in 1630; described by Thomas Morton in 1632 in his New English Canaan as having “fruit as bigg as our ordinary bullis.” John Lawson, one of the first of American naturalists, describes them rather more fully as follows:[140] “The American Damsons are both black and white, and about the Bigness of an European Damson. They grow any where if planted from the Stone or Slip; bear a white blossom, and are a good fruit. They are found on the Sand-Banks all along the Coast of America. I have planted several in my Orchard, that came from the Stone, which thrive well amongst the rest of my Trees. But they never grow to the Bigness of the other Trees now spoken of. These are plentiful Bearers.” These are but a few of the many references to the Beach plum but they are enough to show that the colonists were attracted by this wild plum found on a long stretch of the Atlantic seaboard—probably the first fruit to attract attention from Virginia to New England.
To be more explicit as to its range, Prunus maritima, in its typical form, is an inhabitant of the sea beaches and sand dunes from New Brunswick to the Carolinas, or possibly farther south, growing inland usually as far as recent ocean soil formations extend. As it leaves the seaboard marked variations make their appearance, chief of which are, smaller, more oval, smoother and thinner leaves and smaller fruit. The species has been reported as an inhabitant of the sands at the head of Lake Michigan,[141] but the writer, who is well acquainted with this region, has never seen it there, nor is it to be found in the chief herbaria of Michigan as having been collected in the state.
In the region where it is found wild the Maritima plum is a rather common article of trade. The fruit is usually sold by the quart, the price being five or ten cents, and is used for both dessert and culinary purposes though for most part for the latter.
The species is one of the most variable of the true plums and there is, probably must ever be, much disagreement as to its botanical relationships. Several botanical varieties of Prunus maritima have already been named and there are yet groups within the species which seem to be nearly as distinct as those described and possibly worth distinguishing. Since the variations show in the size, color and edible qualities of the fruit, as well as in the characters of the plant, it is to be expected that the species has a horticultural future though at present it has but one cultivated variety—Bassett. Professor J. W. Macfarlane of the University of Pennsylvania has shown well the great range of variations in this plum both from botanical and horticultural aspects.[142] He holds that these variations are sufficiently distinct to make many varieties of this plum in the wild, to which DeVries agrees with the statement that they indicate “the existence of separate races as elementary species.”[143] The plum which Small has described as Prunus gravesii, to be discussed later, is a marked variation of Prunus maritima.
As it grows on the sea-coast Prunus maritima is a low bush three to six feet high, occasionally reaching a height of ten or twelve feet. Usually the plant is straggling but sometimes it is compact or even tree-like. Inland, on better soils, or under cultivation it makes a rather handsome dwarf tree. The flowers are borne in great numbers, completely covering the plant and coming later than most of the plums bloom. The species bears fruit very abundantly, which is always attractive but of quite diverse value for food. The fruit varies in size from a half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter and is almost spherical, though sometimes oval and with or without a distinct suture. The usual color is a rich bluish-black with a waxy bloom, but red, yellow, amber and orange fruits are often found. In taste the Maritima plums range from inedible to nearly as rich a flavor as is found in the best of the Domestica plums. Besides variations in the above and other qualities, Macfarlane calls attention to the range in ripening of the fruit of this plum, showing that it extends over a period of two months, an exceptionally wide variation for a wild plant.
This plum has a number of qualities that commend it to the fruit-grower. Since in the wild it grows on sandy soils it is not likely under cultivation to make great demands on either the moisture or the fertility of soils. It is very hardy and very productive and seldom fails to bear. It seems to be free or nearly so from some of the pests of cultivated plums. Lastly, the great number of wild varieties of the plums give many starting points from which to breed cultivated varieties. Two objections to the wild fruits are that when the fruit is harvested the juice often exudes from the wound made by the parting from the stem, and secondly, the secretion of some substance forming a dark colored, hard core in the pulp which gives a very bitter taste to the fruit. The last defect is very common in the wild plums and is probably due to the sting of an insect. Under cultivation it may be possible to obtain fruits free from these faults.
It would be desirable if some of the characters enumerated above could be combined with those of other species. Burbank has hybridized the Maritima plum with other species, with promising results. Of these he writes under date of December 6, 1909, as follows:
“I first began raising Prunus maritima about 1887—twenty-two years ago—collecting myself and having specimens sent me all the way from the coast of Labrador to South Carolina, the finest of which were obtained from the eastern coast of Massachusetts. Among the seedlings, of which I raised and fruited several hundred thousands, were yellow, red, purple and almost black ones, early and late, round, oval, oblate and flattened, with big stones and little stones, free stone and cling stone, and much variety in productiveness and growth of the young bushes, but not one of them the first two or three generations were very much increased in size—probably the largest being about the size of a cranberry or a small hazelnut—and none of them of very exceptional quality, though their habit of blooming late was a tremendous advantage, as they invariably escaped our spring frosts. This, with their unusual hardiness induced me to continue experimenting with them. Finally after some ten years I obtained a very delicious variety, about an inch in length and three-quarters of an inch in diameter, tree much increased in size, larger foliage and more productive and producing enormous quantities of most delicious fruit. From this I raised a great many thousand, almost as good and a few of them even better, several hundred of which have been selected and are now bearing on my Sebastopol place. Some of these improved seedling trees grow five to ten times as large as the ordinary Maritima, with larger leaves and in every possible way improved. My greatest success with this species (and one of the most striking occurrences in my work with plums) was produced by pollinating one of the somewhat improved Maritimas with Prunus triflora.
“The very first generation, a plum was produced which is an astonishing grower for a Maritima—almost equal to the Triflora, with large, broad glossy foliage of almost the exact shape of the Maritima, Maritima blossoms, and fruit weighing nearly one-quarter of a pound each, with an improved superior Maritima flavor, Maritima pit in form, but enlarged. The most singular peculiarity of this plum, which is so enormous, is that the trees commence to bloom about with the Triflora and bloom and bear fruit all summer, so that blossoms, young fruit and the enormous deep red ripening fruit can be seen on the trees at the same time.”
1. Small Torrey Bot. Club Bul. 24:44, Pl. 292. 1897. 2. Britton and Brown N. Am. Trees 2:249. 1897. 3. Robinson and Fernald Gray’s Man. Ed. 7:498. 1908.
Shrub low, slender, attaining a height of four feet; main trunk much branched, with dark, rough bark; branches ascending, slender, leafless, unarmed; branchlets of the season puberulent. Leaves oval-orbicular, orbicular or slightly obovate, rounded, retuse or apiculated at the apex, base truncate or at least obtuse, margins sharply serrate or crenate-serrate; upper surface sparingly pubescent or glabrous, lower surface pubescent, especially on the veins.
Flowers white, one-half inch broad; borne in two or three-flowered, lateral umbels, appearing with the leaves; calyx-tube campanulate, pubescent; petals sub-orbicular, abruptly narrowed at the base; pedicels stout, stiff, pubescent.
Fruit maturing in September; globose, one-half inch in diameter, nearly black, with a light bloom, acid and astringent; stone broadly oval, rounded at the apex, acute at the base.
Prunus gravesii is now known only in Connecticut, where it is found on a gravelly ridge at Groton near Long Island Sound. It grows in the neighborhood of Prunus maritima to which it is evidently closely related. Small in describing the species gives the following differences between the Gravesii and the Maritima plums: (1) Prunus gravesii is more slender and delicate in habit, and matures its leaves and fruit earlier in the season. (2) The leaf of Prunus gravesii is small and sub-orbicular while that of the other is larger and more elongated. (3) The new species has smaller flowers with sub-orbicular petals while those of Prunus maritima are broadly obovate and gradually narrowed at the base. (4) The fruit of Prunus gravesii is smaller and more globose and has shorter pedicels. (5) The stone is more turgid and is pointed only at the base; that of Prunus maritima is usually pointed at both ends. (6) Sprouts arising from the ground do not produce flowers as they frequently do in the case of Prunus maritima.
The cultivation of this plum has not been attempted and as compared with Maritima it promises little for the fruit-grower.
1. Koehne Deut. Dend. 311. 1893. 2. Sargent Gar. and For. 7:184, 187 fig. 1894. 3. Bailey Cyc. Am. Hort. 1450. 1901.
Shrub four or five feet high; branches dense and twiggy; stems sometimes armed with slender spines; bark separating in large, loose scales; branchlets stout, slightly zigzag, reddish-brown becoming dark brown.
Winter-buds obtuse, three-lobed at maturity; leaves oblong-ovate, thin and firm, acuminate, long-pointed, two and one-half to three inches long, two-thirds inch broad, unequally cuneate or rounded at the base; margins closely serrate with incurved, calloused or rarely glandular teeth; upper surface glabrous, light green, lower surface paler and pilose; petioles slender, slightly grooved, puberulous, one-half inch long; glands two, large, at the apex of the petiole.
Flowers appearing after the leaves; borne in three or four-flowered fascicles on stout pedicels one-half inch long; calyx-tube turbinate; lobes puberulous on the outer surface, with thick tomentum, often tipped with red on the inner surface; petals narrowly obovate, rounded at the apex, narrowing at the base into slender claws, white or tinged with pink; stamens orange, exserted; style glabrous, thickened at the apex into a truncate stigma.
Fruit globose, an inch in diameter, deep red with a heavy bloom; skin thick; flesh yellow, juicy, of good flavor; stone flattened, oval, slightly rugose, deeply grooved on the dorsal and ridged on the ventral edge.
The history and habitat of Orthosepala are given by Sargent as follows: “The history of this plant as I know it, is briefly this: In June, 1880, Dr. George Engelmann of St. Louis, sent to the Arnold Arboretum a package of seeds marked ‘Prunus, sp. southern Texas.’ Plants were raised from these seeds and in 1888, or earlier, they flowered and produced fruit, which showed that they belonged to a distinct and probably undescribed species. A name, however, was not proposed for it, and in 1888, probably, plants or seeds were sent to Herr Spath, of the Rixdorf Nurseries, near Berlin, where this plum was found in flower by Dr. Emil Koehne, who has described it under the name of Prunus orthosepala.”
Of the affinity of this species Sargent says: “Prunus orthosepala is a true plum, rather closely related to Prunus hortulana, from which it can be distinguished by the smaller number of glands of the petioles, by the eglandular calyx-lobes, the dark colored fruit and smoother stone.” As the writer has seen this plum growing in the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, and the City parks at Rochester, New York, it seems well worth cultivating. Mr. J. W. Kerr writes of it as follows:
“I have P. orthosepala fruiting here, and with me its fruit is exceptionally fine in quality, sparingly produced—attributable I believe to the fact that no variety stands near enough to it for proper inter-pollination. The trees are rather dwarfish in habit, close-headed, with fine clean foliage. The fruit is globular in form; size equal to fair specimens of Hawkeye or Wyant; skin a greenish-yellow, almost entirely covered with deep red.”
W. F. Wight of the United States Department of Agriculture has collected specimens of a cultivated plum, taken from the wild, locally known as the Laire, in Rooks and neighboring counties in Kansas, with foliage very similar to Prunus orthosepela. While the identity of Laire with the species under discussion cannot be established at this time, the reported source of the seeds, “southern Texas,” from which Prunus orthosepela was grown may be an error.
1. Engelmann and Gray Bost. Jour. Nat. Hist. 5:243. 1845. 2. Torrey Pac. R. Rpt. 4:83. 1854. 3. Britton and Brown Ill. Fl. 2:249, fig. 1897.
P. chicasa var. normalis. 4. Torrey and Gray Fl. N. Am. 1:407. 1840.
P. normalis 5. Small Fl. S. E. U. S. 572. 1903.
Shrub low, attaining a height of five or six feet; branches many, straggling, more or less spiny; branchlets at first densely tomentose or soft-pubescent, becoming glabrous; leaves small, ovate-lanceolate or oval, margins finely and evenly serrate, rather thick, texture harsh and firm; upper surface dark green, glabrous or nearly so at maturity, lower surface paler, soft-pubescent becoming nearly glabrous; petiole short and stout.
Flowers white, small, appearing before the leaves; borne in sessile, several-flowered umbels; pedicels short, slender, soft-pubescent.
Fruit globose or oval, very small, not more than one-half inch in diameter, variable in color, mostly in shades of red; stone turgid, nearly orbicular, pointed at both ends.
Prunus gracilis is found in dry, sandy soils from southern Kansas and western Arkansas to central Texas. It grows most abundantly and thrives best in Oklahoma, a fact which leads Waugh to call it the “Oklahoma” plum. All who know the species agree that it is a near approach to Maritima in many of its characters. This plum is very variable and some of its forms seem not to have been well studied. As a fruit plant Gracilis is hardly known in cultivation though Torrey says it is cultivated in the region of its habitat under the name Prairie Cherry. The wild fruit is used more or less locally and is sometimes offered for sale in the markets of western towns. The quality is about the same as that of the wild Americanas and under cultivation would probably improve. The small size of plant and fruit are the most unpromising characters though the species is also much subject to black-knot.
1. Scheele Linnaea 21:594. 1848. 2. Gray Pl. Wright. 1:67. 1852. 3. Hall Pl. Texas. 9. 1873. 4. Coulter Cont. U. S. Nat. Herb. 2:101. 1891. 5. Waugh Bot. Gaz. 26:50-52. 1898. 6. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fr. 223. 1898.
Shrub three to seven feet high; branches angular, smooth, shining, ash-colored, rough; lenticels small, crowded; leaves oblong-ovate or sometimes ovate, rarely lanceolate, apex acute, margins coarsely or doubly serrate, glabrous above and sparingly pubescent below; petioles glandular, grooved, pubescent; flowers in lateral umbels, in pairs or several-flowered; fruit about one-half inch in diameter, oblong-oval, cherry-red; skin thick, smooth and tough, acid.
The preceding description is largely compiled from the authors given in the references, the writer having seen only herbarium specimens. The species is included here largely upon the authority of Professor C. S. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum and W. F. Wight, who know the plant as described by Scheele in the field. Gray described the plant as “verging to Americana.” Bailey says “it evidently bears the same relation to Prunus americana that Prunus watsoni does to the Chickasaw plum.” Waugh is “convinced that Prunus rivularis Scheele is nothing more than one of the more distinct sub-divisions of the multiform hortulana group.”[144] T. V. Munson writes me that the Waylandi plums belong in this species. My own opinion is, from the herbarium specimens examined, from correspondence and conversation with those who have seen the plant in the field, that Scheele’s species is a good one and quite distinct from the species named by Bailey, Waugh and Munson as allied to it. It is to be looked for along the streams and bottom-lands in the neighborhood of San Antonio and New Braunfels, Texas. The plum is locally known as the Creek plum and in common with other plums is gathered for home consumption. The species seems to offer but few possibilities for the fruit-grower.