214 THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



The Beach Plum Group 



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 extend- 

 ing farther towards the Southwest ; and also near the 

 head of Lake Michigan, where it has recently been 

 found. The flowers are rather large for the size of 

 the plant, and are borne on promi- 

 nent stalks in clusters. The fruit 

 (Fig. 33), is about half an inch 

 in diameter in the best forms, 

 and is deep, dull purple when ripe, 

 and covered with a dense bloom ; 

 the flesh is brittle, sweet and 

 juicy, entirely free from the stone; 

 the skin is thick and tough, and 

 usually leaves an acrid taste in 

 Fig. 33. the mouth when the fruit is eaten. 



Beach plum (Pmnus mar- Upon the Jersey coast the fruit 



itima). Full size 



is ripe the middle of August. 



Primus maritima, as this beach plum is called, is 

 in cultivation 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, 

 the Bassett's American. This variety is a third larger 

 than the ordinary wild beach plum, but it does not 

 differ greatly in other respects than in size. It was 

 introduced about twenty years ago by Wm. F. Basse tt, 

 Hammonton, N. J., who bought the original tree from 

 a man who found it in the neighborhood. It grows 



