Prunus simonii

Prunus simonii
Simon plum fruit and leaves
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Amygdaloideae
Genus: Prunus
Species: P. simonii
Binomial name
Prunus simonii
Carrière

Prunus simonii, called apricot plum and Simon plum, is a tree in the genus Prunus. It was first described by Elie-Abel Carrière in 1872 and is native to Hebei province, China.[1] The species is not known in a truly wild state.[2] It has been important for breeding commercial plum cultivars from crosses with other species of the genus Prunus.[3][4] The species is named for Gabriel Eugène Simon (1829–1896), a French botanist and diplomat who sent pits to the Paris Museum in the early 1860s while he was representing the French government in China.[5][6][7][8] Beginning about 1881, the species became commonly known in the United States; having been introduced there from France.[5]

Description

Prunus simonii is a small deciduous tree growing to about 6 meters (20 ft) in height.[2] The flowers produce almost no pollen; the fruit varies in quality, can be bitter or pleasant to eat, and is flat in shape.[2][9] Just like an apricot, the fruit flesh clings tightly to the pit. The taste is often bitter. Fruit production is not particularly bountiful. The fruit is dark red[5] or "brick red".[10] The branches are slender and the leaves oblong.[11] In appearance, the fruit is flatter than most plums, looking "tomato-like".[3] The fruit is particularly aromatic, much more so than Prunus salicina, with a comparatively high level of hexyl acetate, which gives apples their aroma.[12]

Uses

Plant breeder Luther Burbank devoted a lot of work to hybridizing this species with the Japanese plum (Prunus salicina) and developed a number of cultivars from the hybrid.[13] Of these, the cultivar 'Climax' was particularly notable for its importance to the fruit shipping industry of California.[9] Other influential plum cultivars that Burbank developed with P. simonii ancestry include 'Maynard', 'Chalco', 'Santa Rosa', and 'Formosa'.[14] Those two species and the European species Prunus cerasifera have contributed the majority of the genetic constitution of modern Japanese-type plum cultivars, with lesser contributions from three native American species P. americana, P. angustifolia, and P. munsoniana.[15]

References

  1. ↑ GRIN (May 18, 2011). "Prunus simonii Carrière". Taxonomy for Plants. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland: USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Plants for a Future". Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Burbank, Luther (2004) [1914]. New Plums and Prunes in the Process of Making. Barcelona: Athena University Press. p. 27.
  4. ↑ Frecon, Jerome L.; Ward, Daniel L. (2012). "Fruit Notes". Fruit Notes 77: 12–19.
  5. 1 2 3 Bailey, Liberty Hyde (1893). Four Types of New Fruits. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. pp. 34–37.
  6. ↑ Gledhill, D. (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press, p. 353.
  7. ↑ Bretschneider, E. (1898). History of European Botanical Discoveries in China. London: Sampson Low, vol. 2, pp. 827-833.
  8. ↑ Baltet, Charles (1895). L'horticulture dans les cinq parties du monde. Paris: Société nationale d'horticulture, p. 406.
  9. 1 2 Jordan, David Starr (1905). "Some Experiments of Luther Burbank". The Popular Science Monthly 66: 201–225.
  10. ↑ Hedrick, U.P.; et al. (1910). The Plums of New York. p. 55.
  11. ↑ Waugh, Frank (2009) [1903]. Systematic Pomology. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-4-290-1350-5.
  12. ↑ Gomez, Encarna; Ledbetter, Craig (1994). "Comparative Study of the Aromatic Profiles of Two Different Plum Species: Prunus salicina lindl and Prunus simonii L". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 65 (1): 111–115. doi:10.1002/jsfa.2740650116.
  13. ↑ Jones, D. F. (1928). "Burbank's Results with Plums". Journal of Heredity 19 (8): 359–372.
  14. ↑ Burbank, Luther (1921). How Plants Are Trained to Work for Man V. New York: P. F. Collier and Son Co. p. 223.
  15. ↑ Boonprakob, Unaroj; Byrne, David H.; Graham, Charles J.; Okie, W.R.; Beckman, Thomas; Smith, Brian R. (2001). "Genetic Relationships among Cultivated Diploid Plums and Their Progenitors as Determined by RAPD Markers" (PDF). Journal of American Horticultural Science 126 (4): 451–461.

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