14 Plums and Plum Culture 



plums proper 



EUROPEAN OR ASIATIC SPECIES 



Prunus domestica Linn. — The European or common 

 garden plum. Flowers showy, white, more or less fascicled; 

 leaves large, ovate or obovate, usually firm and thick in tex- 

 ture, very rugose, usually pubescent beneath, coarsely serrate; 

 shoots usually downy ; fruit very various, of many shapes and 

 flavors, but mostly globular-pointed or oblong, the stone large 

 and slightly roughened or pitted. Represented in such varie- 

 ties as Lombard, Green Gage, Goliath, etc. 



Prunus domestica damascena Linn. — The Damson 

 plums. Usually somewhat dwarfer than the foregoing, with 

 shorter jointed, slightly spinescent branches; leaves smaller, 

 ovate or obovate, more sharply serrate ; fruit small, sour. The 

 Bullace (Prunus insititia Linn., or P. spinosa insititia Gray) 

 belongs here. 



Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. — P. domestica myrobalan 

 Linn. The Myrobalan or Cherry plum differs from Prunus 

 domestica in a more slender habit, often thorny; flowers 

 mostly smaller ; leaves smaller, thin, smooth and finely and 

 closely serrate ; fruit globular and -cherry-like, ranging from 

 the size of a large cherry to over an inch in diameter, with a 

 depression about the stem, in various shades of red or yellow. 

 In this country used mostly for stocks. 



Prunus spinosa Linn. — European sloe or blackthorn. 

 A low, bushy shrub or small tree, resembling the Damson, but 

 more spiny, with smaller leaves, flowers and fruits. The 

 fruits are rather often borne in pairs, sometimes even in 

 threes, and are small, black and very sour. 



Prunus triflora Roxb. — The Japanese plum. A strong 

 growing tree, perhaps native to China, numerous varieties of 

 which have recently been disseminated in the United States. 

 Flowers usually densely fascicled ; leaves and shoots smooth 

 and hard, the former obovate or oblong-obovate, prominently 

 pointed and finely and evenly serrate; fruit usually conspicu- 

 ously pointed, red, yellow or purple, with a very firm flesh 

 and commonly a small stone. Represented with us in such 

 varieties as Abundance, Burbank, Ogon and Satsuma. 



Prunus simonii Carr. — Apricot plum, or Simon plum. 

 A rather small, straight-growing tree, with pinkish-white 

 flowers, borne singly or in pairs; leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 thick and firm, dull, conduplicate. closely serrate ; fruit oblate, 

 maroon-red, yellow flesh, firm, with a very short stem, with a 

 roundish, spongy, roughened pit. Not uncommon in cultiva- 

 tion in this country. Native to China. 



