106 TREATISE ON FRUIT TREES. 



The pit is ten lignes long, five lignes wide, and three lignes thick. 



This plum ripens in October & it would be commendable even in a shorter season. 

 I believe it should be thought of as a late Perdrigon rather than as an Imperatrice. The true 

 purple Imperatrice is almost round, purple, and covered with a lot of bloom. It ripens as 

 late as the princess plum with which some confuse it. It's slightly inferior in quality and 

 quite similar in shape to the one that follows. 



XL. PLUM TREE with medium-sized oblong-flattened yellow fruit. 

 White IMPERATRICE. (PI. XVIII. Fig. 2.) 



This is a medium-sized plum, slightly oblong. It's divided lengthwise by a not 

 very distinct groove that runs from the tip, where it terminates in a small indentation, up 

 to the stalk, which is two lignes long & inserts into a very narrow but deep cavity. The 

 large diameter is fifteen-&-a-half lignes, the small diameter (because the side with the 

 groove is flattened) is fourteen and a third lignes, and it's sixteen-&-a-half lignes long. 

 The skin is light yellow and full of bloom, which makes it appear white. The flesh is firm, 

 yellow, and somewhat transparent. The juice is pleasant & sweet. The pit is eight-&-a- 

 half lignes long, four-&-a-half lignes wide, and three lignes thick. It separates completely 

 from the flesh. In warm & dry years the fruit begins to ripen around the end of August. 

 This plum is very plump & delicious; sometimes it's a little mealy. 



