70 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



ceiiee should l)o noted. Tlic case Avilli wliich tlic stem parts 

 from the stone at the one end and tlie tree at the other is often 

 worth reeordin*j: as a eharaeteristie. The attachment of stem to 

 stone is so tenacious in some sorts tliat the stone is plucked 

 from the flesh l)y ])ulling: the stem. The stems of some drupes 

 are eharaeteristieally enlarged at the end; in others they may 

 be curved peculiarly. 



106. The suture of drupe-fruits. — In botany the line or seam 

 formed by two adjacent margins is called a siilure. In drupe- 

 fruits the word is applied in the botanical sense to the stone 

 only, while in the flesh of the fruit it means the crease which 

 runs from the stem to or toward the apex of the fruit. In 

 presence or absence, length, depth, and markings, it is very 

 constant in all of the drupes and its characteristics should 

 alwaj's be given in a description. Sometimes its place is taken 

 by a line, usually of darker color than that of the fruit, a fact 

 summed up by the statement suture a line. 



107. Color of drupe-fruits. — The colors of cherries, plums, 

 peaches, and other drupe-fruits are more varied, more constant, 

 and more attractive than in apples, pears and other pomes. 

 Peaches, nectarines, and apricots may be ivhite, red, green, or 

 yellow, or almost any combination of these colors. To these 

 colors of the peach may be added for the plum and cherry, 

 black, amber, crimson, and purple, while some plums are blue, 

 a color not found in cherries. While some colors are put down 

 for all of the drupe-fruits, they must not be considered the 

 same for the different fruits : the red of the peach is not the red 

 of the plum or cherry ; the purple of the plum is not the purple 

 of the cherry. Nor do modifying words help much in distin- 

 guishing between these colors in the several fruits. More often 

 the colors of drupes are laid on solidly ; but there are many parti- 

 colored drupes, in most of which the colors are mottled or 

 marbled. 



The dots on plums help much in the recognition of varieties; 

 their size, number, color, and distribution should be considered. 

 In all of the other stone-fruits they are either absent or so in- 

 conspicuous as to be without value in identification. 



The bloom on plums is highly characteristic. The powdery 

 or waxy substance of which the bloom consists is the same in 



