The plums of New York

by U. P. Hedrick

MARIANNA

Prunus cerasifera × ?

1. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 28. 1886. 2. Gard. Mon. 29:148. 1887. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 38. 1889. 4. Neb. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 56. 1889. 5. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 63. 1890. 6. Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:66, fig., 71, 83, 86. 1892. 7. Tex. Sta. Bul. 32:479, 480 fig. 1894. 8. Rev. Hort. 278. 1894. 9. Rural N. Y. 54:600. 1895. 10. Mich. Sta. Bul. 152:210. 1898. 11. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fruits 208, 213. 1898. 12. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 13:336-369. 1900. 13. Waugh Plum Cult. 36, 232. 1901. 14. Ga. Sta. Bul. 67:277. 1904. 15. S. Dak. Sta. Bul. 93:67. 1905.

Marianna has little or no value for its fruit. It is illustrated and discussed at length in The Plums of New York for two reasons. First, because it has long been an enigma which has baffled both horticulturists and botanists; second, because it is extensively used as a stock upon which other kinds of plums are propagated. In 1884, a plum of unknown species was introduced to the trade. Some said the new variety belonged to Prunus cerasifera and others that it was an offspring of some native species. The characters of the first named species are so apparent in Marianna that all are now agreed that this variety is from either a self or a cross-fertilized seed of Prunus cerasifera; if the latter the other parent must have been some native species, the particular variety possibly being Wild Goose, one of the Munsoniana plums. Its behavior on these grounds, its robustness and semi-sterility and its not fitting exactly into any known species, mark it as a hybrid. A curious character peculiar to this variety is that it grows very readily from cuttings and for this reason it is a cheap stock for plums of all kinds and is used even for peaches and apricots. Besides rooting readily, the Marianna does not sprout and may be budded as late or later than the peach. It is chiefly used in propagation in the South, but, for reasons stated in the discussion of stocks in Chapter II, the Marianna is not now employed by nurserymen as largely as formerly, though there are still conditions in which it is the best of stocks. The tree is a handsome ornamental at any season of the year and its broad, spreading top makes it a good shade tree.

Marianna originated as a seedling in a mixed orchard belonging to Charles G. Fitze, Marianna, Polk County, Texas; its parentage is unknown. The originator considered it a seedling of Wild Goose, but, it is probably an offspring of DeCaradeuc and, as stated in the foregoing paragraph, undoubtedly a hybrid. In 1884, Charles N. Eley, Smith Point, Texas, introduced the Marianna to fruit-growers; in 1889 it was placed on the fruit catalog list of the American Pomological Society.

Tree large, vigorous, broad, spreading, open and flat-topped, hardy, unproductive, comparatively free from insects or diseases; trunk rough; branches numerous, usually smooth, but sometimes roughened by the cracking of the bark, thorny, dark ash-gray, with numerous, very large, raised lenticels; branchlets slender, twiggy, with internodes of medium length, green changing to dull reddish-brown, with gray scarf-skin, glabrous, with conspicuous, large, raised lenticels; leaf-buds very small and short, obtuse, appressed.

Leaves folded upward, elongated-oval, one and one-eighth inches wide, two and five-eighths inches long, thin; upper surface smooth, glabrous, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface pale green, lightly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex and base acute, margin very finely serrate, with small, black or amber glands; petiole slender, three-quarters inch long, pubescent along one side, usually tinged red, glandless or with from one to three very small, globose, greenish-brown glands variable in position.

Blooming season intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across, white; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, in twos or in threes; pedicels three-eighths inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes acute, sparingly pubescent, ciliate, erect; petals very small, separated from each other, broadly oval, entire, tapering to narrow claws; anthers yellowish; filaments three-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit early, season of medium length; one and one-eighth inches or more in diameter, oval or roundish-oval, often not compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt, regular; suture a line; apex roundish or blunt-pointed; color bright, light red changing to darker red, overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, small, light russet, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous; skin tough, bitter, inclined to crack under unfavorable conditions, parts readily; flesh yellow, tinged red under the skin and next to the stone, unusually juicy, fibrous, watery and melting, sweet next to the skin, but acid near the pit, sprightly; inferior in quality; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, elongated-oval, blunt-pointed, surfaces pitted; ventral suture blunt, wide, slightly ridged; dorsal suture widely and deeply grooved.