226 THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, sparingly glandular-serrate and 

 pubescent, with scattering marginal hairs, erect; petals oval, entire, clawed; anthers 

 yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil glabrous, longer than the stamens. 



Fruit mid-season, ripening period very long; medium to sometimes large, roundish- 

 oblate, halves equal; cavity deep, flaring, regular; suture a line; apex roundish or 

 pointed; color golden-yellow blushed or overspread with bright red, with thin bloom; 

 dots numerous, very small, whitish, inconspicuous, thickly sprinkled around the apex; 

 stem five-eighths inch long, glabrous, adhering fairly well to the fruit; skin rather tough, 

 astringent, inclined to crack under unfavorable conditions, separating readily; flesh 

 golden-yellow, unusually juicy and fibrous, tender and melting, sprightly, sweet next 

 the skin but tart near the center; fair in quality; stone adhering, three-quarters inch 

 by one-half inch in size, oval, turgid, flattened at the base, abruptly sharp-pointed 

 at the apex, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture slightly winged; dorsal suture broadly 

 grooved. 



GOLDEN BEAUTY 



Prunus hortulana 



i. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 162. 1881. 2. Rural N. Y. 43:53. 1884. 3. Popular Card. 4:38. 1888. 

 4. Am. Card. 10:175. 1889. 5. Cornell Sta. Bui. 38:48, 49, 86. 1892. 6. Kerr Cat. 3. 1894. 

 7. Mich. Sta. Bui. 118:53. l8 95- 8 - w - N - Y- Hort. Soc. Rpt. 41:55. 1896. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. 

 Cat. 26. 1897. 10. Wis. Sta. Bui. 63:39,42,48. 1897. n. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 11:284. 1898. 12. 

 Colo. Sta. Bid. 50:42. 1898. 13. Ohio Sta. Bui. 113:155. 1899. 14. Ibid. 162:247, 254, 255. 1905. 



Honey Drop 8, 10, 14. Honey Drop 5, n. Missouri Apricot 5, 6, 8, 10, n, 12, 13. 



From the fruit-grower's standpoint, Golden Beauty is of little interest. 

 The plums are so small and the quality so poor that the variety is not 

 worth planting either for the home or for money-making. It is true that 

 the firm, juicy fruits are very good for table use, in jellies in particular, 

 and that they may be shipped long distances, but these characters cannot 

 offset the handicap of small size and poor quality. The variety is of interest 

 to botanists because it seems to be a wanderer out of the range of the species 

 to which it belongs. As the history which follows seems to show, Golden 

 Beauty was found in a part of Texas where Prunus hortulana does not grow 

 (see the discussion of this species) and quite as remarkable if it really comes 

 from so warm a part of Texas is the fact that it should be perfectly hardy 

 here and even farther north. There is a mystery yet to be cleared up about 

 this plum. The variety is very ornamental in flower, foliage and fruit. 



According to current account, Golden Beauty was found wild by a 

 German on the Colorado River in western Texas during the Civil War. 

 After the war, the German planted his new plum in a yard in Victoria 

 County, Texas, where it attracted the attention of Gilbert Onderdonk, 

 Mission Valley, southern Texas. Onderdonk, noting its merits, propagated 



