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ANGUSTIFOLIA PLUMS 



MUNSONIANA PLUMS 



The Angustijolia Plums 



10. Prunus angustifolia, Marsh. Mountain Cherry. 

 Plant seldom a true tree, usually, however, forming a 

 distinct trunk with a twiggy, bushy top ; bark thin, 

 dark reddish-brown, slightly furrowed or roughened, 

 scaly ; branches slender, zigzag with long, thin thorns 

 or spine-like branchlets ; branchlets slender, zigzag, 

 glabrous, glossy, bright red. Leaves folded upward, 

 oblong-lanceolate, pointed at both ends, thin, mem- 

 branaceous ; margins closely and finely serrate ; teeth 

 tipped with glands ; upper surface glabrous, lustrous, 

 bright green ; lower surface glabrous or pubescent in 

 the axils of the veins, dull, % inch wide and 1-2 inches 

 long ; petioles % inch long, slender, glabrous or 

 tomentose, bright red with two red glands near or on 

 the base of the leaf. Flowers appearing with or before 

 the leaves, small, less than % inch across, very nu- 

 merous ; umbels sub-sessile, 2- to 4-flowered, from 

 lateral spurs or buds ; pedicels glabrous, slender, *& inch 

 in length. Fruit ripening early ; ovoid, % inch in 

 diameter, bright red, sometimes yellow, glossy, with 

 little or no bloom ; dots numerous, very conspicuous ; 

 skin thin ; flesh tender, juicy, yellow, subacid ; stone 

 small, clinging, ovoid, turgid, roughened, cherry-like, 

 edges rounded, the dorsal one grooved. 



This plum is found in the wild state from 

 southern Delaware to Florida and westward 

 to the Panhandle of Texas and southern Okla- 

 homa. It usually grows in rich soils, but is 

 found as well in worn-out fields and pastures, 

 most often in thickets of small trees or thorny 

 shrubs or scraggly bushes, producing under the 

 latter conditions small fruits so like cherries 

 as to give it the name in some localities of 

 "Mountain Cherry" (Maryland), and in others 

 of "Wild Cherry" (Louisiana). 



Since the species has been long known, and 

 is so near at hand to fruit-growers, without 

 more of its offspring coming under cultivation, 

 it is not likely that it may be counted upon 

 to furnish much for the orchard. Neither 

 trees nor fruits are promising for the cultivator. 



Prunus angustifolia Watsoni, Waugh. Sand Plum. 

 Shrub 4-10 feet high ; branches slender, short-jointed, 

 zigzag, reddish-brown ; branchlets at first bright red 

 and lustrous, later becoming brownish-red or sometimes 

 ashy-gray. Leaves small, ovate ; apex acute ; base 

 rounded or cuneate ; margins finely crenulate ; upper 

 surface glabrous, shining ; lower surface paler, glabrous ; 

 petioles reddish, % inch in length, bi-glandular at the 

 apex. Flowers in fascicles of 2-4, borne with or before 

 the leaves and in great abundance. Fruit % inch in 

 diameter, globose, sometimes oblong, orange-red, bloom- 

 less ; skin thin, tender ; flesh yellow, juicy, tender, 

 pleasant flavor ; stone turgid, compressed at the apex, 

 thick-walled, round on the ventral and sometimes on 

 the dorsal suture. 



This is the sand plum of the plains, an 

 inhabitant of southern and southeastern Ne- 

 braska, central and western Kansas, and pos- 

 sibly passing into western Oklahoma. It is 

 usually found along the banks of streams and 

 rivers, where it often forms shrubby thickets. 

 The wild plums are held in high esteem for 

 dessert and culinary purposes, and are oc- 

 casionally transplanted to the garden or or- 

 chard. From such transplantings a half dozen 

 varieties have arisen. The productiveness, 

 hardiness to heat and cold, and the size and 

 quality of the fruits should attract plum- 

 growers in the region of its habitat and ex- 

 perimenters elsewhere as well. The Sand plum 

 differs from Angustifolia in its dwarf er habit; 

 shorter-jointed, zigzag, ashy-gray branches; 

 smaller but thicker leaves; large, thicker- 



skinned, and better-flavored fruit, which ripens 

 later; and in a smaller and somewhat differ- 

 ently marked stone. 



Prunus angustifolia variant, Wight and Hedrick. 

 Plant a small tree, attaining a height of 25 feet ; trunk 

 small but well-defined ; branches spreading, bushy, 

 armed with spinescent branchlets ; young wood slender, 

 zigzag, glabrous, glossy, reddish but approaching a 

 chestnut-brown. Leaves oval-lanceolate, 1-2 inches long, 

 1 inch wide, narrowed at the base, acute at the apex ; 

 margins very minutely glandular-serrate ; upper surface 

 glabrous and lustrous ; lower surface paler, glabrous ; 

 petioles slender, reddish, about ^ inch long, pubescent 

 along the upper side, eglandular or with 1 or 2 glands 

 at the apex. Flowers appearing before the leaves in 

 the South and with the leaves in the North ; % inch 

 broad ; pedicels % inch lona;, glabrous. Fruit globose, 

 red or yellow, with light bloom ; stone about % inch 

 long, % inch broad, turgid, ovoid to elliptic-oblong, 

 obscurely pointed at the apex or sometimes slightly 

 obtuse, truncate or obliquely truncate at the base, 

 grooved on the dorsal edge ; ventral edge with a narrow, 

 thickened and slightly grooved wing, the surfaces ir- 

 regularly roughened. 



In the wild, P. angustifolia varians forms 

 dense thickets, the larger specimens attaining 

 a height of ten or twelve feet. When budded 

 and grown in the orchard, the plant is a small 

 tree with well defined trunk and spreading 

 branches, sometimes armed with slender 

 spinescent branchlets. The sub-species is dis- 

 tinguished from the species by more robust 

 habit ; the young twigs less reddish ; by pedi- 

 celed flowers; and by the stone in most cases 

 being more pointed at the apex. It occurs 

 locally from southern Oklahoma through east- 

 ern Texas southward possibly to the Colorado 

 River, and probably westward to the Pan- 

 handle region. The fruit of the sub-species 

 appears to be superior to that of the species. 

 Hybrids between this form and P. Munsoniana 

 occur freely both in the wild state and under 

 cultivation. The varieties Eagle and El Paso 

 have probably originated in this way. Nearly 

 all of the plums belonging to this species, 

 some twenty in all, are tender to cold, and 

 none succeeds in the North. African, Cluck, 

 Jennie Lucas, and Yellow Transparent may be 

 named as representative varieties. 



Munsoniana Plums 



11. Prunus Munsoniana, Wight and Hedrick. Tree 

 medium to large, from 20-30 feet in height ; bark 

 grayish-brown, shaggy, furrowed ; branches spreading, 

 slender, zigzag, little or not at all thorny ; branchlets 

 slender, zigzag, reddish, lustrous, glabrous. Leaves 1% 

 inch wide, 4 inches long, oblong-lanceolate ; apex acute 

 or tapering, rounded at the base, texture thin ; margins 

 closely and finely serrate ; teeth with small, dark red 

 glands ; upper surface bright green, glabrous, lustrous ; 

 lower surface dull green, pubescence sparse along the 

 midrib and veins or sometimes tufted in the axils ; 

 petioles slender, about % inch long, reddish, usually 

 with two glands at the base of the leaf-blade. Flowers 

 appearing before or with the leaves ; season of blooming 

 late ; about % inch across ; odor disagreeable ; 2 or 4 

 flowers in a cluster ; pedicels *& inch long, slender, 

 glabrous. Fruit early ; globose, 1 inch in diameter, 

 bright currant-red, rarely yellow ; bloom thin ; dots 

 conspicuous ; cavity shallow, narrow ; suture a line ; 

 apex rounded ; flesh light yellow, juicy, soft, fibrous, 

 sweet ; aromatic ; stone clinging, prolonged at the apex, 

 obliquely truncate at the base, roughened, grooved on 

 the dorsal edge, thick-margined and grooved on the 

 ventral one. 



Horticulturally, this is the most important 

 group of native plums for the South; it con- 



