PR UN US, PLUM TREE. 81 



XVII. PLUM TREE with large, roundish, flattened, purple to red fruit. 

 ROYALE of Tours. (PI. XX. Fig. 8.) 



This is a strong & vigorous plum tree. It has lots of flowers & sets fruit very well. 



The shoots are short, very thick, greenish brown, reddish at the top and speckled 

 with small gray spots. 



The buds are large, numerous, and are not close to the branch. Their stems are 

 very full. 



The flowers are thirteen lignes in diameter. The petals are slightly longer than 

 they are wide. The tips of the stamens are yellow-brown. 



The leaves are three inches, four lignes long, two inches, three lignes wide, and 

 terminate in an almost similar point at both ends. The denticulation is sharp and quite 

 deep. The stalk is six lignes long. The smaller leaves are almost racket-shaped. 



The fruit is big and is divided lengthwise by a pronounced though not very deep 

 groove that flattens it at its middle. As a result it's eighteen lignes across its large 

 diameter, sixteen lignes from the bottom of the groove to the opposite side & eighteen 

 lignes high. When looked at on its smaller diameter, it seems to be slightly oblong. Its 

 stalk is quite substantial, a very light green, and it inserts into a small cavity that's narrow 

 & not very deep. The top of the fruit is slightly flattened & even indented. 



Its skin is a not very deep purple, covered with a lot of bloom, and scattered with 

 very tiny almost golden-yellow spots. On the shaded side it's more light red than purple. 



Its flesh is yellow tending to green, delicate, & very good. 



The juice is plentiful, sweet, and more flavorful than that of the Monsieur plum. 



