Prunus domestica
1. Pom. Mag. 3:129, Pl. 1830. 2. Lond. Hort. Soc. Cat. 152, 153. 1831. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 308 fig. 127. 1845. 4. Poiteau Pom. Franc. 1. 1846. 5. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 339. 1849. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 54. 1852. 7. Ann. Pom. Belge 3:71, Pl. 1855. 8. Thompson Gard. Ass’t 519, Pl. 1. 1859. 9. Hogg Fruit Man. 377. 1866. 10. Pom. France 7: No. 9. 1871. 11. Mas Le Verger 6:3 fig. 2. 1866-73. 12. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 367. 1887. 13. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 452. 1889. 14. Guide Prat. 155, 364. 1895.
Blaue Reine-Claude 10, 11, 13 incor., 14. Die Violette Königin Claudia 13. Die Violette Königin Claudie 1. Die Violette Köning Claudie 3. Die Violette oder blaue Renoclode 10, 14. Die Violette oder Blaue Reneclode 11, 13. Purple Gage 2, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Prune Reine Claude Violette 4, 10. Reine-Claude Alex. Dumas 14. Reine-Claude Violette 2, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14. Reine-Claude Violette 1, 3, 5, 9, 13. Violet Queen Claude 3, 5. Violet Gage 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14. Violette Reine-Claude 13. Violet Gage 2. Violette Queen Claude 13. Violet oder Blaue Reneclode 13.
Purple Gage is worthy of attention as one of the best flavored of all purple plums. In all but color of fruit it is a true Gage, to say which is a sufficient characterization as to quality. In size it averages larger than most of the Gages or Reine Claude plums, and in color is a rich dark purple as attractive as any of the purple plums. Another good quality of the fruit is that of hanging to the tree until it shrivels at which time it is richest in flavor. Unfortunately the trees, while averaging very well in other respects, are not productive and the variety cannot be recommended for money-making though it well deserves a place in home orchards.
Purple Gage is a European variety of unknown origin, though in the Catalogue descriptif des fruits adoptes par le Congres pomologique for 1887, it is said to have been raised by M. Galopin of Liege, Belgium. As it was not mentioned by Duhamel in his Traite des Arbres Fruitiers in 1768, it is thought to have been unknown at that date. English and American authors generally apply the name Purple Gage to this variety but in continental countries the name Reine Claude Violette is most common. It was imported into America early in the last century and in 1852 was added to the recommended list of fruits in the American Pomological Society catalog.
Tree large, vigorous, round-topped, hardy, not very productive; branches numerous, light ash-gray, with few, small, raised lenticels; branchlets thick, above medium in length, with rather short internodes, greenish-red changing to brownish-red, marked with much scarf-skin, glabrous throughout the season, with few, small, slightly-raised lenticels; leaf-buds of medium size and length, conical, appressed; leaf-scars greatly enlarged.
Leaves folded upward, oval, one and three-quarters inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thick, stiff; upper surface dark green, distinctly rugose, lightly pubescent, with a shallow groove on the midrib; lower surface silvery-green, covered with thick pubescence; apex abruptly pointed or acute, base rather abrupt, margin serrate or crenate, eglandular or with small dark glands; petiole three-quarters inch long, thick, greenish, pubescent, glandless or with one or two rather large, globose, yellowish-green glands variable in position.
Blooming season late, of medium length; flowers appearing with the leaves, nearly one and one-quarter inches across, white; borne from lateral buds, usually singly; pedicels five-eighths inch long, thick, pubescent, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, obtuse, lightly pubescent on both surfaces, glandular-serrate, reflexed; petals obovate or oval, crenate, short-clawed; anthers yellow; filaments nearly one-half inch long; pistil glabrous except at the base, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit intermediate in time and length of ripening season; one and one-half inches by one and three-eighths inches in size, roundish or ovate, slightly compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture very shallow, often a line; apex variable in shape; color dark purple or purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, russet, conspicuous when the bloom is removed, clustered about the apex; stem five-eighths inch long, thinly pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, separating readily; flesh dull yellow, juicy, somewhat fibrous, firm but tender, sweet, of pleasant flavor; very good; stone semi-clinging, seven-eighths inch by five-eighths inch in size, irregular-oval, flat, often contracted at the base into a long narrow neck, blunt at the apex, with markedly rough and pitted surfaces; ventral suture swollen, rather wide, distinctly furrowed, often with a prominent wing; dorsal suture with a wide and deep groove.