GRAND DUKE
Prunus domestica
1. Hogg Fruit Man. 703. 1884. 2. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 432, 434. 1889. 3. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 39:100. 1894. 4. Can. Hort. 18:117, Pl. 1895. 5. Cornell Sta. Bul. 131:186, fig. 40 IV. 1896. 6. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 42:83. 1897. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 25. 1897. 8. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:245. 1899. 9. Ohio Sta. Bul. 113:159, Pl. XVI. 1899. 10. Can. Exp. Farm Bul. 2nd Ser. 3:52. 1900. 11. Waugh Plum Cult. 106 fig. 1901. 12. Ohio Sta. Bul. 162:243 fig., 244, 254, 255. 1905.
Grossherzog’s Pflaume 2. Grand-Duc 2. Grand Duke 2.
Grand Duke, now probably the favorite late shipping plum in this region, is, as stated in the history given below, a comparatively new plum in America. Its great popularity, gained in less than a quarter of a century, is due to much advertising by nurserymen coupled with such intrinsic qualities as large size, the true prune shape which seems most pleasing in some markets, handsome plum-purple and more than all else a firm, meaty flesh which fits the variety excellently for shipping. The flavor, as seems most often to be the case with these large blue plums, is not pleasant and the plum is not more than a second rate dessert fruit though it is very good in whatever way cooked for the table. The trees grow poorly in the nursery and even in the orchard are seldom large and vigorous enough to be called first class, though usually hardy. Some years ago plum-growers were advised to top-work this and other weak-growing plums on stronger stocks, but those who have tried such top-working usually condemn it because it is expensive and ineffective and because it so often gives a malformed tree. The trees come in bearing slowly but bear regularly and abundantly and hold the crop well, the plums being unusually free from rot and hanging in good condition a long time. Grand Duke deserves its popularity as a market plum and probably no better variety can be selected in New York for the last of the season.
Grand Duke is another of the many valuable plums produced by Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, England. It was grown from an Autumn Compote stone and was sent out in 1876. When it was first introduced into America is not known, but in 1888 cions of it were distributed by Ellwanger and Barry[216] of Rochester, New York. In 1897, the American Pomological Society added this variety to its fruit catalog list and recommended it for this State and neighboring regions with similar climatic conditions.
Tree above medium in size, moderately vigorous, upright to slightly spreading, usually hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, with small, numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, short, with internodes of medium length, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, many twigs retaining a tinge of green, shining, glabrous, with numerous, small lenticels; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, strongly appressed; leaf-scars large.
Leaves nearly flat, obovate, one and one-half inches wide, three inches long, thick; upper surface shining, slightly rugose, pubescent only along the grooved midrib; lower surface yellowish-green, lightly pubescent; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin serrate, eglandular or with small, dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, nearly glabrous, slightly tinged red along one side, glandless or with from one to three globose yellowish glands on the stalk and base of the leaf.
Blooming season intermediate, short; flowers appearing after the leaves, one inch across, white; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs and buds, singly or in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes lightly pubescent, glandular-ciliate, slightly reflexed; petals obovate, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellowish; filaments one-quarter inch long; pistil pubescent at the base, longer than the stamens.
Fruit late, season medium; unusually large when well grown, two and one-eighth inches by two inches in size, elongated-oval or slightly obovate, halves unequal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture wide, variable in depth; apex flattened, somewhat depressed or occasionally with a short, blunt tip; color dark reddish-purple or purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, brownish, inconspicuous; stem three-quarters inch long, adhering well to the fruit; skin variable in toughness, somewhat astringent, separating readily; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm, sweet, mild, not high in flavor; good; stone clinging, sometimes tinged red, one and one-eighth inches by seven-eighths inch in size, irregularly oval, slightly flattened, roughish, acute at the base and apex; ventral suture broad, slightly winged; dorsal suture with a broad, shallow groove.