OLIVET

Prunus avium × Prunus cerasus

Olivet is a large, globular, deep red, glossy cherry with a rich, vinous, subacid flavor. Some writers call Olivet a Duke while others place it with the Morellos. The fruit, on the grounds of this Station, shows many characteristics of the Morellos while the tree appears to be a Duke, suggesting that it is a hybrid between trees of the two groups. The fruit, eaten out of hand, would be rated as a very good Morello or a subacid and somewhat mediocre Duke, a fruit hardly good enough for dessert and not as good as some of the sourer cherries for culinary purposes. It is one of the earliest of the Morello-like cherries and this may give it a place in the cherry flora of the country. The trees are large and vigorous and their much-branched, round tops would seem to give the maximum amount of bearing surface, but, unfortunately, the cherries do not set abundantly. On the grounds of this Station the variety is not fruitful, this being its chief defect. In other parts of the country, however, it is reported to be either very productive or moderately so. The descriptions of this cherry as given by American experiment stations and nurserymen show plainly that there are several distinct sorts passing under the name Olivet in this country.

Olivet, of comparatively recent origin, was found at Olivet, Loire, France. American nurserymen introduced this variety sometime previous to 1877, for in that year the Gardener's Monthly mentioned the cherry as being "a valuable Duke sort filling an unoccupied place among the list of early cherries in central New York." Olivet was entered on the American Pomological Society's catalog list of fruits in 1881 where it is still retained.

OLIVET

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, round-topped, unproductive; trunk thickish, rather rough; branches thick, smooth, reddish-brown partly overspread with ash-gray, with numerous small lenticels; branchlets short, brown partly overspread with ash-gray, smooth, with numerous raised lenticels.

Leaves numerous, three and one-half inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, folded upward, obovate to oval, thin; upper surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light green, glossy, with a few scattering hairs; apex acute; margin doubly serrate, glandular; petiole one and one-fourth inches long, greenish, glandless or with one or two globose, brownish glands variable in position.

Buds usually pointed, plump, free, arranged singly as lateral buds and in small clusters on short spurs; leaf-scars prominent; season of bloom intermediate; flowers white, one inch across; borne in dense clusters, usually in threes; pedicels one-half inch long, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube with a tinge of red, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes with a trace of red, long, of medium width, acute, serrate, glabrous within and without, reflexed; petals oval to slightly obovate, entire, nearly sessile; apex entire; filaments one-fourth inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures in mid-season; nearly one inch in diameter, roundish to slightly oblate, somewhat compressed; cavity abrupt, regular; suture a line; apex roundish, with a small depression at the center; color bright red; dots russet, obscure; stem thickish, one and one-fourth inches long, adhering well to the fruit; skin tough, separating from the pulp; flesh light red, with abundant light red or wine-colored juice, tender and melting, sprightly, astringent, tart; of fairly good quality; stone free, small, roundish, slightly flattened, somewhat pointed at the apex, with smooth surfaces; somewhat ridged along the ventral suture.