MARITIMA PLUMS 



THE SOUR CHERRY 



127 



tains a greater number of cultivated varieties 

 than any other native species excepting P. 

 americana, no less than sixty sorts, some of 

 which are deservedly the best known of the 

 native plums for either home or market use. 

 For dessert or the kitchen the fruits are par- 

 ticularly valuable, having a sprightly vinous 

 flavor which makes them pleasant to eat out 

 of hand or when cooked. Their bright colors, 

 semi-transparent skins, and well-turned forms 

 make them very attractive in appearance. Un- 

 fortunately, nearly all of the varieties of this 

 species are clingstones. This group hybridizes 

 more freely than any other of the plums, and 

 there are a great number of promising hybrids. 

 Of all plums, these are most in need of cross- 

 pollination, some of the varieties being nearly, 

 or, as in the case of Wild Goose, wholly self- 

 sterile. While these plums are especially 

 valuable in the southern states, some of them 

 are desirable in the North as well, where all 

 will grow at least as far north as central New 

 York. The leading varieties under cultivation 

 are Arkansas, Pottawattamie, Robinson, New- 

 man, Wild Goose, and Downing. 



Maritima Plums 



12. Prunus maritima, Marsh. Beach Plum. Shrub 

 4-10 feet high ; main branches decumbent and strag- 

 gling or upright and stout ; bark dark brown or reddish, 

 more or less spiny, often warty ; branchlets pubescent 

 at first, dark reddish-brown, slender ; lenticels few, 

 small, dark. Leaves obovate, short-acute, rounded at 

 the base ; margins closely and evenly serrate, thin and 

 somewhat leathery ; petioles less than % inch long, 

 stout, tomentose or glabrous ; glands two, sometimes 

 more, at the base of the leaves. Flowers small, appear- 

 ing before the leaves; borne in 3 -flowered umbels closely 

 set along the rigid branches. Fruit maturing in late 

 summer ; % inch in diameter, globose, flattened at the 

 ends ; cavity shallow, borne on a slender pedicel ^ inch 

 in length, dark purple with a heavy bloom, sometimes 

 red, less frequently yellow ; skin thick, tough and 

 acrid ; flesh crisp, juicy, sweet ; stone free from the 

 flesh, small, turgid, pointed at both ends, cherry-like, 

 acutely ridged on one and grooved on the other edge. 



This species, in its typical form, is an in- 

 habitant of the sea beaches and sand dunes 

 from New Brunswick to the Carolinas, or pos- 

 sibly farther south, growing inland usually as 

 far as ocean soil formations extend. As it 

 leaves the seaboard, marked variations make 

 their appearance, chief of which are smaller, 

 more oval, smoother, and thinner leaves and 

 smaller fruit. In the region where it is found 

 wild, the Maritima plum is a rather common 

 article of trade. The fruit is used for both 

 dessert and culinary purposes, chiefly for the 

 latter. 



This plum has a number of qualities that 

 commend it to the fruit-grower. Since in 

 the wild it grows on sandy soils, it is not likely 

 under cultivation to make great demands on 

 either the moisture or the fertility of soils. The 

 plant is very hardy, very productive, seldom 

 fails to bear, and seems to be free or nearly so 

 from some of the pests of cultivated varieties. 

 Two objections to the wild fruits are that 

 when the fruit is harvested the juice often 

 exudes from the wound made by the parting 

 from the stem; and the secretions of some 

 dark-colored substance form a hard core in 



the pulp, which gives a bitter taste to the 

 fruit. The last defect is common in the wild 

 plums, and is probably due to the sting of 

 an insect. 



Orthosepala Plums 



13. Prunus orthosepala, Koehne. Shrub 4 or 5 feet 

 high ; branches dense and twiggy ; stems armed with 

 slender spines ; bark separating in large loose scales ; 

 branchlets stout, reddish-brown. Leaves oblong-ovate, 

 thin, acuminate, long-pointed, 2% -3 inches long, % inch 

 wide, unequally rounded at the base ; margins closely 

 serrate with incurved, calloused teeth ; upper surface 

 glabrous, light green ; lower surface paler and pilose ; 

 petioles slender, grooved, puberulous, % inch long ; 

 glands 2, large, at the apex of the petiole. Flowers 

 appearing after the leaves ; borne in 3- or 4-flowered 

 fascicles on stout pedicels ^ inch long. Fruit globose, 

 1 inch in diameter, deep red with a heavy bloom ; skin 

 thick ; flesh yellow, juicy ; stone flattened, oval, slightly 

 rugose, deeply grooved on the dorsal and ridged on 

 the ventral edge. 



Prunus orthosepala is a true plum, closely 

 related to P. hortulana, from which it can be 

 distinguished by the smaller number of glands 

 of the petioles, by the eglandular calyx-lobes, 

 the dark colored fruit and smoother stone. A 

 cultivated plum, taken from the wild, locally 

 known as the Laire, in Rooks and neighoring 

 counties in Kansas, is the only variety of P. 

 orthosepala. 



CHERRIES 



Botanists enumerate about 120 wild cherries, 

 of which but five are cultivated for their fruits, 

 and but two have given pomological varieties 

 of value in the fruit industry of the world. 

 The sour cherry, P. Cerasus, is the most impor- 

 tant species in America. 



The Sour Cherry 



1. Prunus Cerasus, Linn. Tree reaching a height of 

 20 to 30 feet, diffuse, open-headed, round-topped ; bark 

 reddish-brown overlaid with ashy-gray, smooth ; branches 

 spreading, slender ; branchlets willowy, glabrous, reddish- 

 brown overspread with ashy-gray. Leaves resinous at 

 opening, very numerous, 3-4 inches long and %-2 inches 

 wide, obovate, thick and firm in texture ; upper surface 

 dark green, smooth ; lower surface paler, pubescent ; 

 apex acute ; base abrupt ; margins finely serrate, often 

 doubly so ; teeth tipped with small, dark glands ; petioles 

 from %-2 inches long, slender, grooved; glands 1-4. 

 Flowers appearing with or after the leaves, showy, 1 

 inch across, white ; borne in scaly clusters on one-year- 

 old wood; pedicels %-l% inches in length, slender. 

 Fruit round-oblate or cordate, sides compressed ; suture 

 indistinct ; cavity well marked ; apex depressed ; color 

 light to dark red ; dots numerous, small, russet ; stem 

 slender, %-2 inches in length; flesh dark red, with 

 dark colored juice or pale yellow with colorless juice, 

 tender, melting, sprightly, acidulous, sometimes astrin- 

 gent ; stone free or clinging, round, smooth, less than 

 Vfe inch in diameter ; ventral suture usually ridged. 



The sour cherry is grown and esteemed in 

 temperate climates the world over. The 

 species is found truly wild in southwestern 

 Asia and southeastern Europe. It is a fre- 

 quent escape from cultivation, multiplying 

 from seed distributed by birds or human 

 agencies, or growing from suckers which spring 

 so freely from the roots as to make the species 

 unfit for a stock in orchard work. The number 

 of cultivated varieties of P. Cerasus is about 

 300. Sour cherries cultivated for their fruits 

 constitute two distinct groups, each of which 



