Clyman has special merit as one of the earliest good Domesticas. The fruit resembles that of Lombard somewhat, but is smaller and is much better in quality. As grown in California the Clyman commands high prices for shipping eastward. Whether it could be grown profitably in the East remains to be seen but it deserves to be rather widely tested for an early home and market plum. In New York it has a few serious faults: the plums are susceptible to rot, they drop as soon as ripe and the trees seem not to be quite hardy at Geneva; though in the Ohio reference given above they are said to be “rather hardier than those of most other European sorts.” Otherwise than in hardiness the trees at this place are quite satisfactory. The variety is characterized by very long stamens. Clyman is well deserving of trial with the possibility that it may prove to be the best of our early Domesticas.
This plum was raised from a Peach plum stone planted in 1866, by Mrs. Hannah Clyman, Napa City, Napa Valley, California. The original tree was cut down but several suckers were taken from the roots and planted in an orchard. These bore fruit for many years, never failing to mature a crop. In 1886, Leonard Coates, a nurseryman and fruit-grower of Napa City, became interested in the plum on account of its extreme earliness and offered it to his customers. The American Pomological Society added Clyman to its fruit catalog list in 1897.
Tree rather large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, semi-hardy in New York, productive; branches ash-gray, nearly smooth, with numerous, small, raised lenticels; branchlets thick, rather long, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, dull, heavily pubescent throughout the season, with numerous, indistinct, small lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed; leaf-scars prominent.
Leaves folded backward, obovate, one and seven-eighths inches wide, three and one-quarter inches long; upper surface dark green, rugose, sparingly hairy; lower surface pale green, pubescent; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base acute, margin serrate or crenate, covered with small dark glands; petiole nearly seven-eighths inch long, pubescent, reddish, glandless or with from one to three globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in size and position.
Blooming season early and short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one and one-eighth inches across, white, the buds creamy at the apex when unfolding; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels about one-half inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, pubescent; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces, serrate, reflexed; petals obovate, dentate, tapering to short, broad claws; anthers yellow; filaments about seven-sixteenths inch long; pistil pubescent near the base, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit very early, season short; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, oval, halves equal; cavity narrow, abrupt, regular; suture shallow and often indistinct; apex roundish or slightly depressed; color dark purplish-red, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem five-eighths inches long, pubescent, adhering poorly to the fruit; skin tender, sour, separating readily; flesh pale yellow, dry, firm, sweet, mild but pleasant; of good quality; stone free, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, somewhat flattened, irregular-oval, with pitted surfaces, tapering abruptly at the base, nearly acute at the apex; ventral suture of medium width, usually rather blunt; dorsal suture with a wide, deep groove.
COLUMBIA
Prunus domestica
1. Mag. Hort. 8:90. 1842. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 292. 1845. 3. Cole Am. Fr. Book 216. 1849 4. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 334. 1849. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 86. 1862. 6. Mas Pom. Gen. 2:159. 1873. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 691. 1884. 8. Wash. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 135. 1893.
Columbian Gage 2, 4. Columbia Pflaume 6. Columbia Gage 7.