2826 



PRUNUS 



PRUNUS 



cc. Fl.-sts. usually more or less hairy. 



8. domestica, Linn. (P. communis, Huds.). COMMON 

 GARDEN PLUM. Figs. 3068 to 3072. Strong-growing 

 small tree with pubescent twigs: Ivs. large and thick, 

 dull green, much reticulated, pubescent beneath, ovate 

 or obovate, coarsely and irregularly serrate: fls. white, 

 large, usually in clusters: fr. various, but firm in texture 

 and usually not depressed about the st.; stone large, 

 slightly rough or pitted. Native country unknown, but 

 of Eu. or the Eurasian region. If it exists in a truly 

 wild state, it is to be sought in the Caucasus and 

 trans-Caucasus regions. It is run wild in many parts 

 of the world. Focke says that P. domestica is unknown 

 in an originally wild state, and that the typical form 

 of the species is the prune (Zwetsche), P. ceconomica, 

 Borkh. There are various forms of P. domestica grown 

 for ornament, as double-fld., yellow-lvd., and variegated- 

 Ivd. As a fr .-plant it is widely variable. It is the parent 

 species of the old-time or common plums, as distin- 

 guished from the Japanese and American plums. The 

 synonymy of the main varietal groups is shown by 

 Waugh, Bot. Gaz. 26, pp. 417-27 (Dec., 1898), and 27, 

 pp. 478-81. 



Var, insititia, Bailey (P. insititia, Linn. P. domestica 

 subsp. insititia, Schneid. P. itdlica, Borkh.). DAMSON, 

 BULLACE, and probably also ST. JULIEN, and other kinds 

 of plums. A form with small foliage and small firm oval 

 or ovoid frs. borne mostly in clusters: tree small and 

 compact. Damson is a general name for small-fruited 

 and small-lvd. forms of the plum. When the plum runs 

 wild, it usually reverts to this form. Some of the Dam- 

 sons (as the French, Shropshire, Farleigh) are commer- 

 cial orchard varieties, being used for culinary purposes. 

 The Mirabelle plum is P. insititia var. syriaca, Koehne. 

 There is much difference of opinion as to the systematic 

 position of the plum designated by Linnaeus as P. insi- 

 titia, but in character it is somewhat intermediate be- 

 tween P. domestica and P. spinosa. It is probably one 



stage in the reversion of the plum toward wild or half- 

 wild forms. The P. domestica var. damascena, Linn., is 

 indefinite, and the name may well be dropped. 



Other forms of P. domestica have received Latin 

 class-names, as var. malif6rmis, Linn. (P. syriaca, 

 Dipp.), including the Mirabelle (a small-lvd. form with 

 small yellow fr.,not unlike the Damsons) and others; 



3216. Prunus salicina. Japanese plum. 



From specimens in the herbarium at the Royal Gardens, Kew, as 

 P. triflora, Roxbg. (No. 9.) 



var. Cereola, Linn., the green-gages or Heine Claudes; 

 var. galatensis, Auth., the prunes. Var. elegans, Hort., 

 a recent form, has narrow white-margined Ivs. 



BB. Group of oriental plums: Ivs. relatively longer (mostly 

 oblong-obovate), not roughened or pubescent, often 

 shining, the young twigs glabrous or nearly so: fls. 

 mostly 3' 's from each bud in the cluster. 

 9. salicina, Lindl. (P. triflora, Roxbg., nomen nudum. 

 P. japdnica, Hort., not Thunb. P. Hdttan, Tamari. P. 

 ichangana, Schneid. P. Bbtan, Hort. P. Mdsu, Hort.). 

 JAPANESE PLUM. Fig. 3216; also Figs. 3073, 3074. 

 Strong-growing small tree, with smooth often shining 

 reddish or cinnamon-brown twigs: Ivs. mostly oblong- 

 obovate, abruptly but prominently pointed, closely 

 obtuse-serrate, the veins looping near the margin, bright 

 often shining green above and dull beneath: fls. few 

 from each bud (most commonly about 3), showy, white 

 or very nearly so, slender-stalked: fr. various, mostly 

 large and firm, yellow or light red (never blue-purple) 

 with pronounced suture and tending to be pointed at 

 the apex. R.H. 1895:160. Gn. 78, p. 195. Chinese, 

 but intro. into this country from Japan (in 1870), and 

 now widely distributed and much grown for its fr. The 

 Japanese plum is hardy, in some of its varieties, as far 

 north as Ottawa. It is prized because of its great pro- 

 ductiveness, long-keeping qualities and beauty of its 

 fr., and its greater immunity from black-knot. As a 

 class, the fr. is of lower quality than the domestica 

 plums. The season of the Japanese plums begins con- 

 siderably in advance of the domesticas and holds nearly 

 as late. The greater number of the varieties are cling- 

 stones, but there are some freestones among them. A 

 race of hybrids with P. hortulana and P. angustifolia is 

 now appearing. 



Var. pfcbipes, Bailey (P. triflora var. pubipes, 

 Koehne). Pedicels densely pubescent or only rarely 

 subglabrous: calyx-tube pubescent a third or half the 

 length. Cult, abroad. 



10. gymnodonta, Koehne. Shrub, with crowded 

 unarmed branches: Ivs. large and more or less fascicled, 

 conduplicate in vernation, narrow-obovate or obovate- 

 oblong, about 2-3 in. long, at base acute or cuneate; 

 at apex short-acuminate and very acute, serrate with 

 glandless teeth, glabrous or slightly hairy beneath; 

 stipules linear or nearly filiform, often cut: fls. appear- 

 ing with the Ivs., white; calyx-lobes oblong and obtuse, 

 entire or nearly so; petals spatulate-obovate, short- 

 clawed, about y$in. long: fr. not described. Manchuria. 

 Cult, abroad. From P. salicina (P. triflora) this species 

 differs in the conduplicate Ivs., which are little involute 



