EUREKA
1. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 115. 1880. 2. Gard. Mon. 24:211, 212. 1882. 3. U. S. D. A. Pom. Rpt. 42. 1895. 4. Mich Sta. Bul. 205:31. 1903.
In the South where Eureka originated, the variety seems to have a very good reputation as an early, white-fleshed, semi-free peach. In New York the variety ripens early, when there are many other good peaches of its type, and it is therefore doubtful if it will ever have a prominent place in peach-growing in this State. As the variety grows on the Station grounds, one quality, in particular, marks Eureka as worthy more attention than it now receives—the peaches are exceptionally uniform in size. The color-plate, by the way, shows shape and color very well but does not give a fair idea of the size, as the peaches grow larger in average years. Though long grown, Eureka is worthy further trial in New York.
Eureka is a seedling of Chinese Cling found nearly half a century ago in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. It was introduced by L. T. Sanders and Son, Plain Dealing, Louisiana.
EUREKA
Tree above medium in size, upright-spreading, round-topped, semi-hardy to hardy, very productive; trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown overspread with very light ash-gray; branchlets with long internodes, reddish lightly intermingled with olive-green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with numerous conspicuous, large lenticels.
Leaves five inches long, one and seven-sixteenths inches wide, folded upward, variable in shape, leathery; upper surface dark green intermingled with olive-green, smooth becoming rugose near the midrib; lower surface grayish-green, with a prominent midrib; margin finely or coarsely serrate, glandular; petiole five-sixteenths inch long, with two to six large, reniform glands variable in color and position.
Flower-buds somewhat tender, small, short, heavily pubescent, obtuse or conical, plump, usually appressed; blossoms open early; flowers one and thirteen-sixteenths inches across, pink, well distributed; pedicels very short, medium to thick, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green, greenish-yellow within, obconic; calyx-lobes usually broad, obtuse, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval or ovate, entire, broadly and shallowly crenate, tapering to long claws reddish at the base; filaments one-half inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil pubescent at the ovary, as long as the stamens.
Fruit matures early; about two and seven-sixteenths inches in diameter, round or round-oval, bulged on one side, compressed, with unequal halves; cavity shallow, abrupt; suture shallow, deepening at the apex; apex flattened or more or less rounded, with mucronate tip; color greenish-white or creamy-white, often with a distinct, bright red blush overspreading one-third of the surface, with faint mottlings; pubescence fine, thick, short; skin thin, tender, separates from the pulp; flesh white, tender and melting, very juicy, pleasant flavored, good; stone free, one and one-half inches long, one inch wide, ovate to oval, tapering to a long point, with corrugated and deeply pitted surfaces; ventral suture winged, deeply grooved along the edges, narrow; dorsal suture a narrow groove.