CORNELL UNIVERSITY EXPERIMENT STATION BULLEJTINS. 237 



F. The Beach Plum. — {Prunus maritima, Wangenheim [1781]). 

 Fig. 0. The beach plum is a straggling, more or less decumbent, bush, 

 reaching three to six or even twelve feet in height, growing in the sands 

 of the sea-coast from New Brunswick to Virginia, and perhaps extending 

 further toward the southwest. The flowers are rather large for the size 

 of the plant, and are borne on prominent stalks in clusters. The fruit, in 

 the best forms, is about a half inch in diameter (see Fig. 9), and is deep, 

 dulj purple when ripe, and covered with a dense bloom; the flesh is brit- 

 tle, sweet, and juicy, entirely free from the stone; the skin is thick and 

 tough, and usually leaves an acrid taste in the mouth when the fruit is 

 eaten. Upon the Jersey coast the fruit is ripe the middle of ^ August. 

 Prunus marUima is in cultivatioa as an ornamental plant, it being very 

 showy when in bloom and interesting in fruit. It succeeds well under 

 cultivation in the interior states. As a fruit plant it has given rise to but 

 one variety. 



94. Bassetfs American (Fig. 10).— Small (about three-fourths inches in diameter), 



round or slightly round-oblate, dull red, ekin medium 

 thick; free-stone, the stone nearly circular in outline with 

 a very short point or even pointless, thin upon the front 

 edge, slightly rough; leaves a fourth cr third larger than 

 those of the wild beach plum. Medium to late, ripening 

 in late August in eastern Maryland. Quality poor. Intro- 

 duced about 20 years ago by Wm. P. Bassett, Hammonton, 

 N. J., who bought the original tree of a man who found it 

 in the neighborhood. It works well upon the Wild Goose, 

 and Mr. Bassett writes me that he has a tree on suoh roots 

 which IS fifteen feet high. It was largely brought to 

 notice through the efforts of the Rumson nurseries, where 

 ^^ it was worked upon the myrobalan plum and peach. I 



/f'\ ,-; ' ' have seen a vigorous large tree at Mr. Kerr's grafted 



A / r J 4' upon the Richland, which is Prvnus doviestica. Mr. 



*;( Kerr aleo finds that it grows upon the Chickasaws. Tb» 



^; variety appears to differ from the wild beach plum only in 



size. 



Fig. 10.— Basnet fs American. 

 Fall size. 



G. Peunus subcoedata, the wild plum of the Pacific coast, was intro- 

 duced to cultivation in 1889 by T. V. Munson (see Annals of Horticulture 

 1889, 101; 1891, 2'65). It is a straggling, much branched shrub growing 

 from three to ten feet high. It has subcordate, roundish, or round-ovate 

 tomentose leaves, and large, pedicelled flowers which appear with the 

 leaves. The red fruit reaches three fourths inch long. It is eaten by 

 Indians and whites. Its value in cultivation is yet to be determined. 



H. Hybrids. — It is not known to what extent the native species of 

 plums hybridize with each other or with foreign species, and nearly all the 

 definite attempts at crossing are so recent that results have not been 

 obtained. The only apparently authentic hybrids have come from the 

 union of the Wild Goose and the peach. Mr. Kerr has what appears to 

 be an undoubted hybrid. The tree, as I recall it, is large, spreading, and 

 peach-like. The leaves are long and peach-like, although rather broad and 

 short-pointed, but the flower buds, although they form in profusion, never 

 open, so that the tree is barren. This is a hybrid betweea the Wild 

 Goose and Troth's Early peach. Twenty-five flowers of Wild Goose were 

 emasculated in the bud and covered with paper sacks. When in full 

 bloom, peach pollen was applied, but the flowers were not again covered. 

 Twentv-one of the flowers set fruit, and twenty-one trees were obtained 



