THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 207 



Were there not so many handsome, well-flavored plums of the Reine 

 Claude group, Esperen might well be recommended to the amateur at least, 

 for it is first class in appearance and quality. But the fruits are small 

 and the tree -characters are not such that the variety can compete with 

 the standard Reine Claude plums. Esperen was produced from seed in 

 1830 by Major Esperen of Malines, Belgium; it was first fruited in 1844, 

 and was introduced in 1847 by Louis Van Houtte of Ghent, Belgium. It 

 obtained the designation Drap d'Or from its close resemblance to that variety. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, productive; trunk stocky, rough; branches 

 rough, with numerous, large, raised lenticels; branchlets brash; leaves flattened, two 

 and one-half inches wide, five inches long, obovate or oval; margin serrate; petiole 

 thick, tinged red, pubescent, with from two to five large, globose glands. 



Fruit mid-season ; about one and one-half inches in diameter, roundish-oval ; cavity 

 shallow, narrow, often lipped; color yellow streaked and mottled with green, overspread 

 with thin bloom ; skin thin, tender, rather sour; flesh yellow, tender, sweet, aromatic; of 

 good quality; stone free, one inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, with pitted surfaces; 

 ventral suture blunt; dorsal suture wide, deep. 



EXCELSIOR 



Prunus triflora X Prunus munsoniana 



I. Glen St. Mary Cat. 1891-2. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 26. 1897. 3. Vt. Sta. Bui. 67:11. 1898. 

 4. Ga. Sta. Bui. 68:9, 36. 1905. 



Excelsior has not fruited on the Station grounds and is placed in the 

 list of leading varieties because of the prominence given it in the above refer- 

 ences. The variety was originated by G. L. Tabor, Glen Saint Mary, 

 Florida, in 1887, from seed of Kelsey supposed to have been pollinated by 

 Wild Goose, although some authorities believe De Caradeuc to have been 

 the male parent. It seems to be a promising variety and was mentioned 

 in the last three catalogs of the American Pomological Society. 



Tree vigorous, vasiform; branches slender; leaves of medium size, narrow; margin 

 finely crenulate, glandular; petiole short, with from one to three small glands; flowers 

 small, scattered; fruit early; of medium size, roundish, dark red with heavy bloom; 

 skin tough; flesh firm, yellowish with red tinge towards the center; quality good; stone 

 of medium size, compressed, clinging. 



FIELD 



Prunus domestica 



i. Mich. Hart. Soc. Rpt. 288. 1889. 2. Am. Card. 14:50, 395. 1893. 3. Rural N. Y. 55: 

 622. 1896. 4. Cornell Sta. Bui. 131:184. 1897. 5. Mich. Sta. Bui. 169:244. 1899. 9. Ibid. 



