MARU
Prunus triflora
1. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 29. 1886. 2. Ibid. 53, 99. 1889. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 105, 106. 1891. 4. Rev. Hort. 515. 1891. 5. Ibid. 278. 1894. 6. Cornell Sta. Bul. 62:26. 1894. 7. Tex. Sta. Bul. 32:489. 1899. 8. Cornell Sta. Bul. 106:57. 1896. 9. Rural N. Y. 56:615. 1897. 10. Cornell Sta. Bul. 175:143. 1899. 11. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:242, 249. 1899. 12. Waugh Plum Cult. 138. 1901. 13. Ga. Sta. Bul. 68:9, 31. 1905.
Maru is much in evidence in plum literature, the concensus of opinion being that it is little short of worthless. Its quality is not high and it comes in season about with Abundance which surpasses it in nearly all characters. The variety was introduced by Luther Burbank and is said to have been imported by him about 1885. In Japan this name is applied to any round plum, but so far in America it has been restricted to this variety.
Tree large, lacking in vigor, broad-vasiform, dense-topped, unproductive, somewhat susceptible to attacks of shot-hole fungus; trunk and branches rough; branchlets twiggy, marked with thin, russety scarf-skin, glabrous, with large, prominent lenticels; leaves folded upward, oblanceolate, peach-like, thin, one and three-eighths inches wide, three inches long; upper surface yellowish-green late in the season; margin very finely serrate, with small glands; petiole with from one to six glands usually on the stalk; blooming season early; flowers appearing after the leaves, three-quarters inch across; borne in clusters on lateral spurs, in threes or fours; pistil longer than the stamens.
Fruit early, about one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish-cordate, dull red, with medium thick bloom; flesh deep yellow, tender and melting, sweet next the skin, but slightly astringent near the pit; poor in quality; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, oval or roundish, turgid, with rough surfaces.
MAYNARD
Prunus triflora × Prunus simonii
1. Vt. Sta. An. Rpt. 12:226. 1899. 2. Nat. Nur. 11:5. 1903. 3. Oregon Nur. Cat. 24. 1903. 4. Can. Hort. 28:285. 1905.