140 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOdY 



and shaiH' of tlio plums arc all jjopular cliaraclci's with p'owers 

 and consunuTs. The hcsl known varieties in the group are 

 Diamond, Areh Duke, Monareh, Siiii)per, Aretie, Quaekenboss 

 and Smith Orleans. All are characterized by hardy, thrifty, 

 productive trees which l)ear thick-skinned firm-flcshed plums of 

 rather poor (piality in which the stones usually cling. 



(5) The Lombard plu)}is. — The reddish and mottled varieties 

 of plums are usually thrown into this group. These plums differ 

 but little from those in the preceding section except in the color 

 of the fruits which have also more obovate shape, a more marked 

 suture, are smaller, and even poorer in quality, though there are 

 a few exceptions. The trees are even hardier and more produc- 

 tive, characters which make varieties of this group popular in 

 northern climates and for the general fruit-grower. The follow- 

 ing well known sorts l)elong here : Lombard, Bradshaw, Pond, 

 Duane, Victoria, Middleburg, and Field. 



(6) The Yellow Egg plums are a gi'oup of few^ varieties, all 

 of wdiieh are very distinct and some the largest and handsomest 

 plums known. The group is readily distinguished by the tall, 

 upright-spreading, vigorous trees, nearly all of which are tender 

 to cold and capricious as to soils. The fruits are the largest 

 size, long-oval in shape, more or less necked, yellow^ or purple, 

 with firm yellow flesh, free or clinging to the stone ; the quality 

 is usually poor although there are one or two exceptions. The 

 best known varieties in the group are Yellow Egg, Red Magnum 

 Bonum, Golden Drop and Monroe. 



Insititia plums. 



198. Prunus insititia described. — The Insititias are small 

 round firm plums of various colors and flavors of which the 

 well known Damsons are the best representatives. Some botan- 

 ists put them in P. domestica, usually as a botanical variety, 

 but to the writer the several groups and many varieties form 

 a very distinct species in tree and fruit. 



2. Prunus insititia, Linn. (Plate VI) Tree dwarfish; bark gray, 

 smooth, with transverse cracks. Leaves small, obovate; apex obtuse or 

 abruptly pointed; base cuneate or narrowed and rounded; margins closely, 

 sometimes doubly serrate or crenate, glandular; thin and firm; upper sur- 

 face rugose, dark green, hairy ; lower surface paler, pubescent ; petioles V2 



