LATE RARERIPE
1. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 22. 1897. 2. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 204. 1913. Prince Red Rareripe. 3. Prince Pom. Man. 2:16. 1832. 4. Elliott Fr. Book 278. 1854. Late Red Rareripe. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 486. 1845. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 78. 1862.
Rareripe Rouge Tardive. 7. Mas Le Verger 7:217, 218, fig. 107. 1866-73. 8. Leroy Dict. Pom. 6:255 fig., 256. 1879.
Prince. 9. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:223. 1899.
Late Rareripe is a white-fleshed, late freestone. It is of value now only because of its historical interest though its high quality makes it well worth growing in gardens. Its position as a milestone in the progress of peaches is better marked if we quote A. J. Downing[262] who wrote in 1845 when Late Rareripe was in its prime and one of the leading varieties: "Unquestionably one of the very finest of all peaches. Its large size, great excellence, late maturity, productiveness, vigor, all unite to recommend it to universal favor. We cannot praise it too highly."
This old variety is certainly of American origin but the originator, the time and place of origin are all unknown. It has been cultivated more than a hundred years. Prince believed it to be a seedling of Red Rareripe but there is nothing to be found now to verify this belief. Late Rareripe was sent to France in 1855 where it has since been grown as a satisfactory commercial sort. The American Pomological Society listed this variety in its catalog in 1862 under the name Late Red Rareripe. In 1897, the name was shortened to Late Rareripe as it now appears.
LATE RARERIPE
Tree often very large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, of medium productiveness; trunk stocky, nearly smooth; branches thick, smooth, reddish-brown tinged with light ash-gray; branchlets long, with internodes of medium length, dark pinkish-red intermingled with dull green, glabrous, with numerous conspicuous, large lenticels raised at the base.
Leaves six and one-half inches long, one and one-half inches wide, folded upward and curled downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thick, leathery; upper surface smooth becoming rugose at the midrib; lower surface pale green; apex acuminate; margin finely and often doubly serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, glandless or with one to four small, globose, reddish-brown glands variable in position.
Flower-buds half-hardy, conical to pointed, plump, pubescent, free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers one and three-sixteenths inches across, white at the center of the petals changing to pink toward the margins, well distributed; pedicels short, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green at the base, greenish-yellow within, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes acute, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval, faintly notched near the base, tapering to narrow claws of medium length tinged with red at the base; filaments three-eighths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent near the base, usually as long as the stamens.
Fruit matures late; two and five-eighths inches long, two and eleven-sixteenths inches wide, roundish-cordate, with unequal surfaces; cavity variable in depth and width, abrupt or flaring, often with twig-mark across the cavity; suture variable in depth, extending beyond the tip; apex roundish, mamelon or mucronate, recurved; color greenish or creamy-white, sometimes with a lively red blush, mottled and splashed with darker and duller red; pubescence thick, coarse; skin tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh white, stained with red near the pit, juicy, stringy, tender, pleasantly flavored, sweet or somewhat sprightly; good to very good in quality; stone free or nearly so, one and one-half inches long, one and one-sixteenth inches wide, oval to ovate, plump, with deeply grooved surfaces; ventral suture deeply grooved along the edges, strongly furrowed; dorsal suture deeply grooved.
LEMON FREE
1. Wickson Cal. Fruits 313. 1889. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 33. 1899. 3. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:218. 1899. 4. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:349. 1903. 5. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 204. 1913.
Lemon. 6. Rural N. Y. 47:131. 1888. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 32. 1889. 8. Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 2:59. 1895.
Lemon Free is a yellow-fleshed, freestone, lemon-shaped, lemon-colored peach ripening in late mid-season. The fruit is not sufficiently attractive in appearance to sell well in the markets and, besides, is too thin-skinned to ship or keep well. The quality is very good, the flavor being sweet, rich and delicious, though possibly the flesh is a little too dry to permit the variety being ranked as "very good." It is an excellent peach for culinary purposes having the reputation of making a handsomer canned product than any other peach. Lemon Free is little grown in the eastern states but it is one of the leading sorts of its season in parts of California. The color-plate shows the shape very well but the color is not quite that of the real peach.