THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLUMS 183 



I. EUROPEAN GARDEN PLUMS (Prunus domesticd}. 

 Leaves large, coarse, rough, thick, usually pubescent 

 beneath, coarsely serrate; flowers large, white, showy; 

 fruit various; stone large, usually compressed and 

 roughened. This group contains several important 

 types, the most conspicuous being the following: 



1. REINE CLAUDE TYPE. Leaves comparatively 

 large, broad, and flat, with very coarse serrations; fruit 

 nearly spherical, green or tardily turning to a dull, 

 creamy yellow, flesh rather firm or even hard, green, 

 clinging to the stone. Bavay, Green Gage, McLaugh- 

 lin, Imperial Gage, Jefferson, Lawrence, and many 

 other varieties belong here. 



2. DAME AUBERT TYPE. Tree large; leaves large, 

 coarse; fruit very large, oval, compressed, with more 

 or less of a neck; flesh yellow. Yellow Egg (Magnum 

 Bonum) and Golden Drop represent this type. 



3. THE PRUNES. Fruit medium to large, always 

 oval or ellipsoid, usually with one side of the oval 

 straighter than the other, compressed; color blue or 

 purple; flesh mostly greenish-yellow, firm; stone 

 usually free in a large cavity. Represented best by 

 Fellenberg and German Prune. 



4. THE PERDRIGONS. Fruit medium to large, 

 spherical or oblate, sometimes distinctly depressed at 

 the apex, usually with a deep suture, blue or purple; 

 flesh greenish-yellow, rather firm. Not well repre- 

 sented in America, but typified in Goliath and Royal 

 Tours. 



5. DIAMOND TYPE. Fruit mostly large, oval, very 

 slightly compressed, always dark solid blue in color, 

 with a heavy bloom which also appears to be blue; 



