Prunus simonii
Simon plum fruit and leaves
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus
Subgenus: Prunus subg. Prunus
Section: Prunus sect. Prunus
Species:
P. simonii
Binomial name
Prunus simonii

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][13]

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.[14] 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'.[15] 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.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Prunus simonii". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Plants for a Future". Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Burbank, Luther (2004) [First published 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Jordan, David Starr (1905). "Some Experiments of Luther Burbank". The Popular Science Monthly. Vol. 66. pp. 201–225.
  10. ^ Hedrick, U.P.; et al. (1910). The Plums of New York. p. 55 – via BHL.
  11. ^ Waugh, Frank (2009) [First published 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. ^ "Prunus simonii | apricot plum /RHS Gardening".
  14. ^ Jones, D. F. (1928). "Burbank's Results with Plums". Journal of Heredity. 19 (8): 359–372. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a103021.
  15. ^ Burbank, Luther (1921). How Plants Are Trained to Work for Man. Vol. V. New York: P. F. Collier and Son Co. p. 223 – via BHL.
  16. ^ 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 the American Society for Horticultural Science. 126 (4): 451–461. doi:10.21273/JASHS.126.4.451.

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