SIMON'S PLUM 



AMERICANA PLUMS 



123 



pect, the trees of the Japanese plums in sum- 

 mer or winter are much more like those of the 

 American species than those from Europe or 

 West Asia; so, too, the fruits are more alike in 

 appearance and in quality, and the peach-like 

 foliage of the Japanese might easily be mistaken 

 for that of our native varieties of Hortulana or 

 Munsoniana. In the manner in which the buds 

 are borne and in vernation, the resemblance 

 of the oriental species to the Americanas, 

 Hortulanas, and Munsonianas is again most 

 striking. In Asiatic and American species the 

 buds are borne in twos and threes, while in 

 the European species they are more often 

 single or double. As might be expected from 

 their nearness of kin, the Japanese plums 

 hybridize readily with the American species 

 and especially with the Hortulanas and Mun- 

 sonianas, species which they most resemble. 



Simon's Plum 



5. Prunus Simonii, Carriere. Tree small upright, 

 ' dense, hardy, unproductive. Leaves folded upward, 



oblong-lanceolate to obovate, peach-like, narrow, long, 

 of medium thickness ; upper surface dark green, smooth, 

 shining ; lower surface pale green, not pubescent, with 

 prominent midrib ; margin slightly erenate ; petiole 

 short, thick, faintly tinged red, with 4 large globose 

 glands on the stalk. Flowers numerous on one-year 

 wood although found on spurs on the older wood ; 

 appearing very early, small, pinkish-white ; borne singly 

 or in pairs, often defective in pollen. Fruit early ; 1 % 

 by 2 inches in size, oblate, compressed ; cavity deep, 

 wide, flaring, regular, russeted ; suture swollen near 

 the apex which is flattened or strongly depressed ; dark 

 red or purplish-red, overspread with waxy bloom ; dots 

 numerous, dark colored, with russet center, inconspicu- 

 ous ; stem thick, characteristically short ; skin tough, 

 bitter, adhering to the pulp ; flesh rich yellow, juicy, 

 tough, firm, very mild subacid with a peculiar aromatic 

 flavor ; of fair quality ; stone clinging, about % inch 

 in diameter, round, turgid, truncate at the base, 

 tapering abruptly to a short point at the apex, with 

 characteristic rough surfaces ; ventral suture narrow, 

 acute or with distinct wing ; dorsal suture very blunt 

 or acute, not grooved. 



All that is known of the history and habitat 

 of this species is that it came from China in 

 1867, having been sent to the Paris Museum of 

 Natural History by Eugene Simon, a French 

 consul in China. The spontaneous form has 

 not been found. The general aspect of the 

 tree is more that of the peach than of the 

 plum, and the drupes are as much like apricots 

 or nectarines as plums ; but, when all characters 

 are considered, the fruit can better be classed 

 with the plums than with any of the other 

 stone-fruits named. Simonii is widely grown 

 in America for its fruits, but it cannot be said 

 that it has become popular, only one variety 

 of the species being now under cultivation. 

 The plums lack palatability, and the trees are 

 subject to too many pests. Prunus Simonii 

 has been successfully hybridized with P. 

 salicina, and, as secondary crosses, its blood has 

 been mingled with that of some of the native 

 species as well. Most of its hybrid offspring 

 have more value than the parent, for nearly 

 all of them are free from its disagreeable taste. 



The Americana Plums 



6. Prunus americana, Marsh. Red Plum, Yellow 

 Plum, Horse Plum, Hog Plum, Sloe. Tree attaining a 

 height of 30 feet ; trunk short ; bark % inch thick, 



dark grayish-brown, outer surface rough, shaggy with 

 large scales giving a characteristic aspect ; branches 

 spreading, crooked, long, rigid, but often pendulous 

 at the extremities, more or less thorny, with lateral, 

 spinescent branchlets ; branchlets light green, usually 

 glabrous, sometimes much or little tomentose, at first 

 brownisn, later tinged with red ; lenticels numerous, 

 large and distinct. Leaves oblong-obovate, acuminate 

 at the apex and rounded at the base, firm in texture, 

 becoming coriaceous ; margins sharply serrate, often 

 doubly serrate, the coarse and double serrations char- 

 acteristic ; glabrous or slightly pubescent, coarsely 

 veined ; midrib grooved on the upper side ; petioles 

 slender, % inch in length, usually glandless. Flowers 

 expanding after the leaves, large, 1 inch in diameter, 

 borne in lateral umbels, two- to five-flowered, mostly 

 on one-year-old wood ; pedicels % inch long, slender, 

 glabrous. Fruit variable in ripening period ; globose, 

 conical, oval, or oblique-truncate, 1 inch in diameter, 

 red or yellowish, dull, with or without bloom ; dots 

 pale, numerous, conspicuous ; cavity shallow or lacking ; 

 suture a line ; skin thick, tough, astringent ; flesh 

 golden-yellow, juicy, fibrous, sweet, acid ; stone clinging 

 or free, turgid or flattened, the apex pointed, ridged 

 on the ventral and grooved on the dorsal suture ; surfaces 

 smooth. 



This is the predominating native plum. It 

 is the most widely distributed of all the native 

 species, is most abundant in individual speci- 

 mens, and has yielded the largest number 

 of horticultural varieties. Because of its 

 prominence and comparatively high degree of 

 permanency of characters, it may well be con- 

 sidered the type from which has sprung not 

 only its botanical varieties but several others 

 of the American species. Its variability, also, 

 is shown in its many diverse horticultural 

 varieties; and of its adaptability, it may be 

 said that it flourishes in nearly all soils and 

 exposures, and is found wild or cultivated from 

 Maine to Florida, and northward from Mexico 

 along the eastern slope of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, well into Canada. 



The plums of this species in the Mississippi 

 Valley are distinguished from the eastern and 

 typical form by fruits having a length greater 

 than the diameter, by different aspect of tree, 

 and by flatter seeds, which are usually con- 

 spicuously longer than they are broad. All 

 the cultivated varieties come from the western 

 form. The plant of P. americana in the dry 

 plain regions of Kansas and Nebraska becomes 

 shrubby in character, while on the alluvial 

 bottom lands along the streams in this region 

 it retains the character of a tree. In the 

 southern limit of its range, the leaves are more 

 or less pubescent on the lower surface. As the 

 species occurs throughout western New Mex- 

 ico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and 

 Manitoba, it differs enough from the eastern 

 types to be considered a sub-species, having a 

 wholly different aspect of tree, silvery and 

 somewhat scurfy twigs, smaller, thinner, and 

 lighter-colored leaves, and smaller fruits with 

 more roundish stones. 



The domestication of Americana plums is 

 due to the fact that the plums of Europe will 

 not thrive in the Mississippi Valley, the prairie 

 states, nor, for the most part, in the South. 

 The European species are tender both to cold 

 and heat in these regions, and they are at- 

 tacked by those scourges of plum-culture, 

 black-knot, leaf-blight, and curculio. If, then, 

 the people in the West and South were to 



