STUMP
Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, productive; trunk medium in diameter, smooth; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown tinged with light ash-gray; branchlets thick, inclined to rebranch, long, with internodes dark red mingled with olive-green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with many conspicuous, small, raised lenticels.
Leaves six and three-fourths inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, folded downward, broad-oval to obovate-lanceolate, leathery; upper surface dull, dark green, rugose along the midrib; lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, often in two series, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole seven-sixteenths inch long, with one to four globose glands variable in color and position.
Flower-buds semi-hardy, pubescent, conical to pointed, plump, usually more or less free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers thirteen-sixteenths inch across, white at the center, becoming pink near the margin; pedicels long, slender; calyx-tube dull reddish-green, yellow within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes acute, obtuse, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval, faintly notched near the base, tapering to very short claws tinged with red near the base; filaments five-sixteenths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent at the ovary, longer than the stamens.
Fruit matures late; about two and one-half inches in diameter, round-oval to cordate bulged near the apex, compressed, with markedly unequal halves; cavity shallow, wide, uneven in outline, flaring or abrupt, with tender skin; suture shallow, often extending beyond the tip; apex round or pointed, with a recurved, mucronate tip; color creamy-white, blushed, mottled and splashed with red; pubescence long, thick, coarse; skin thin, tough, separates from the pulp; flesh white, strongly stained with red near the pit, juicy, tender and melting, sweet, rich, pleasantly flavored, aromatic; very good in quality; stone nearly free, one and one-half inches long, one and one-sixteenth inches wide, ovate to oval, plump, flattened toward the base, tapering to a long point, with grooved surfaces; ventral suture deeply marked along the edges, narrow, sometimes winged; dorsal suture grooved.
SUMMER SNOW
1. Okla. Sta. Bul. 2:15. 1892. 2. Mich. Sta. Bul. 118:31. 1895. 3. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 691. 1897. 4. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:227. 1899. 5. Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 7:55. 1900.
Summer Snow is a curiosity with some value for culinary purposes Its distinctive peculiarities are a skin almost pure white and flesh white as snow from skin to pit. The quality is poor and the flesh clings to the pit so tenaciously that the variety has no value, whatsoever, for dessert but is said to be excellent for pickling and to make a very good and a very distinctive canned product.
There are no records of the origin of this peach but it is doubtful if it dates back more than a quarter of a century. The variety is very similar to the old Snow, which was probably its prototype, differing essentially in having a clinging stone while the stone of Snow is free. In New York the name is a misnomer as the fruit does not ripen until the last of September or early in October. Albino peaches date back to the early records of this fruit and seem to be known wherever peaches are grown. Whenever seedling peaches are grown in large numbers, an occasional albino appears.
SUMMER SNOW
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, slightly drooping, productive; trunk thick and, smooth; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown mingled with very light ash-gray; branchlets very long, inclined to rebranch, with internodes of medium length, olive-green intermingled with light brown, smooth, glabrous, with conspicuous, russet-colored lenticels.
Leaves six and one-fourth inches long, one and five-eighths inches wide, flattened or curved downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thin; upper surface dull green, smooth; lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, glandless or with one to six small, globose and reniform glands variable in color and position.
Leaf-buds semi-hardy, small, short, variable in shape, plump, appressed or slightly free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers one and five-eighths inches across, white, sometimes in twos; pedicels short, thick, glabrous, green; calyx-tube tinged with green, yellow within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes variable in length, medium to narrow, acute, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals often pointed at the apex, round-ovate, broadly notched at the base, tapering to broad, short claws; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil pubescent near the base, as long as the stamens.
Fruit matures late; two and three-eighths inches long, two and five-sixteenths inches wide, round-cordate, somewhat angular, bulged at one side, compressed, with unequal sides; cavity deep, narrow, abrupt, contracted about the sides, twig-marked; suture shallow, becoming deeper toward the tip; apex roundish or depressed, with a mucronate or sometimes a small, mamelon tip; color greenish-white changing to creamy-white, without blush; pubescence long, thick, coarse; skin thin, tender, adherent to the pulp; flesh white to the pit, juicy, meaty, mildly sweet to sprightly; fair in quality; stone firmly clinging, one and nine-sixteenths inches long, one and one-eighth inches wide, broad-oval, often bulged near the apex, winged, with pitted surfaces marked with short grooves; ventral suture rather narrow, winged, with furrows of medium depth along the sides; dorsal suture grooved, with winged sides.