This variety seems to have originated in Ohio about 1885 but nothing is known of its parentage, originator or introducer. Wickson, in California Fruits, claims California as its birthplace but this, we think, is an error. In 1889 the American Pomological Society placed Lemon Free in its fruit-catalog as Lemon but in 1899 changed the name to Lemon Free.
LEMON FREE
Tree very large, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, rather unproductive; trunk thick, smooth to medium; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown tinged with light ash-gray; branchlets often very long, with a tendency to rebranch, with medium to long internodes, pinkish-red with but a trace of green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with large, raised, russetty lenticels medium in number.
Leaves seven inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, folded upward and curled downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thick, leathery; upper surface dark olive-green, smooth becoming rugose along the midrib; lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with two to six rather large, reniform, reddish-brown glands variable in position; flower-buds intermediate in size and length, conical to pointed, slightly pubescent, usually free; flowers appear in mid-season.
Fruit matures in late mid-season; two and one-half inches long, two and five-sixteenths inches wide, roundish-oval; cavity medium to deep, wide, flaring, often mottled with red; suture shallow, becoming deeper at the apex and extending beyond; apex mucronate to roundish-mamelon, recurved; color green or golden-yellow, with a faint blush and mottled with red; pubescence fine, long, thick; skin thin, tender, variable in adhesion to the pulp; flesh yellow, juicy, stringy, tender and melting, sweet to sprightly, pleasantly flavored; very good in quality; stone semi-free to free, one and one-fourth inches long, nearly one inch wide, oval, plump, flattened near the base, short-pointed, the surfaces usually grooved and with few pits; ventral suture winged, deeply marked along the edges, narrow; dorsal suture winged, grooved.
LEVY
1. Gard. Mon. 23:82. 1881. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 37. 1909. 3. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 204. 1913.
Henrietta. 4. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 380. 1858. 5. Cult. & Count. Gent. 45:649. 1880. 6. Tex. Sta. Bul. 39:807. 1896. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 33. 1899. 8. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 203. 1913.
Levy Late. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 92, 93. 1881. 10. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 3rd App. 171. 1881. 11. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:349. 1903.
This variety ripens quite too late for any but the most favorable peach-sections in New York. It is a round, yellow-fleshed clingstone of very good quality and might be planted in the parts of New York, where the season permits it to mature, for a very late culinary peach. It is one of the favorite peaches to close the season in Southern fruit-growing sections.
The history of Levy is badly confused. More than half a century ago a peach called Henrietta was cultivated. Where or when the variety originated no one can tell. In 1881, Downing mentioned a peach under the name Levy Late as being a new, late clingstone originating in the garden of W. W. Levy, Washington, District of Columbia. Downing gave Henrietta as a synonym of Levy Late, as have several pomologists since. From these facts, it seems safe to say that the variety is old, that it was first introduced as Henrietta and that the peach which Mr. Levy claimed to have originated was Henrietta. The American Pomological Society, in 1899, added this peach to its fruit-list as Henrietta but in 1909 changed the name to Levy, giving Henrietta as a synonym.
Tree large, vigorous, upright to quite spreading, hardy, productive; trunk thick, rough; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown intermingled with very light ash-gray; branchlets slender, with internodes dark red or purplish-red mingled with light green, smooth, glabrous, with small, numerous, conspicuous, raised lenticels.
Leaves six and one-half inches long, one and one-half inches wide, oval to obovate-lanceolate, of medium thickness, leathery; upper surface dark green, smooth becoming rugose along the midrib; lower surface grayish-green; apex acuminate; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole five-sixteenths inch long, with one to six small, globose, reddish-brown glands variable in position.
Flower-buds hardy, conical to pointed, plump, pubescent, free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers seven-eighths inch across, with varying shades of pink, sometimes in twos; pedicels short, medium to thick, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green at the base, orange-colored within, somewhat campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, medium to narrow, acute, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval, notched near the base, tapering to long, narrow claws often tinged with red at the base; filaments five-sixteenths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent near the base, as long as or longer than the stamens.
Fruit matures very late; about two and one-half inches in diameter, roundish-cordate, compressed, with very unequal halves; cavity medium to deep, wide, abrupt to slightly flaring, with tender skin and often twig-marked; suture deep, extending beyond the tip; apex mamelon, recurved, a few fruits with very large, mucronate tips; color greenish or golden-yellow, with splashes of dull red and a lively blush covering one cheek; pubescence short, thick, fine; skin thick, adherent to the pulp; flesh yellow, juicy, stringy, meaty, mild or somewhat astringent, pleasantly flavored; fair to good in quality; stone clinging, one and one-half inches long, one inch wide, bulged on one side, ovate to oval, plump, winged, with surfaces marked by short, red grooves; ventral suture deeply furrowed along the edges, wide; dorsal suture a deep groove.