THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 179 



Climax is another of Luther Burbank's plums, having been introduced 

 in 1899. The originator states that it is a selected hybrid between the 

 Simon and Botan plums. The variety was first described as the Royal 

 but since this name had been previously given to a European plum it was 

 renamed Climax. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, somewhat straggling, dense-topped, semi- 

 hardy, medium productive; branches dark ash-gray, short and stout, with numerous 

 lenticels; branchlets short, with very short internodes, brownish chestnut-red, glossy, 

 glabrous, with numerous conspicuous, small, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, 

 obtuse, plump, free. 



Leaves folded upward, oblanceolate, peach-like, one and one-quarter inches wide, 

 three and three-eighths inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, with a 

 grooved midrib, glabrous; lower surface light green, glabrous except on the midrib 

 and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base cuneate, margin finely serrate or crenate, 

 with small, dark brown glands; petiole nine-sixteenths inch long, sparsely pubescent, 

 tinged red, glandless or with from one to seven small, globose or slightly compressed, 

 reddish glands. 



Blooming season early and of medium length; flowers appearing with the leaves, 

 white; borne in clusters of three, on lateral spurs; pedicels, long, thick, glabrous, green; 

 calyx tube greenish, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse, with a few hair-like glands, 

 glabrous, erect; petals roundish-oval, entire; anthers deep yellow; filaments short; 

 pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length; stigma very small. 



Fruit very early, season short; one and three-quarters inches in diameter, cordate 

 or roundish, slightly compressed, halves unequal; cavity deep, abrupt, regular, marked 

 with faint, reddish, radiating streaks; suture deep, broad; apex pointed; color dark 

 red, mottled; bloom of medium thickness; dots numerous, variable in size, russet, con- 

 spicuous, clustered about the base; stem thick, nine-sixteenths inch long, glabrous, 

 parting readily from the fruit; skin thick, bitter, with a tendency to crack, separating 

 easily from the pulp only when fully ripe; flesh yellowish, very juicy, somewhat fibrous, 

 tender and melting, sweet, pleasant flavored, aromatic; good; stone adhering, seven- 

 eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, somewhat long-oval, pointed, roughish, con- 

 spicuously winged and grooved on the ventral suture; dorsal suture slightly grooved. 



CLING STEM 



Prunus domestica 

 i. N. Y. Sta. Rpt. 9:347. 1890. 



This plum belongs to the Reine Claude group, a group in which there 

 is room for new varieties only at the top. Cling Stem is inferior, falling 

 short chiefly in quality, for a plum of its type, and it is doubtful if it 

 is worth general planting. This Station alone seems to have tested the 



