Season of bloom medium; flowers seven-eighths inch across, white; borne in clusters on lateral buds and spurs, singly or in pairs; pedicels three-eighths inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes narrow, acute, glabrous, the margin glandular-ciliate, reflexed; petals roundish-oval, entire, short-clawed; anthers yellow; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens.
Fruit late, season long; one and one-half inches by one inch in size, oval, compressed, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, flaring; suture an indistinct line; apex roundish; color purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem slender, one-half inch long, glabrous, adhering to the fruit; skin thin, tender, adhering; flesh golden-yellow, juicy, firm but tender, agreeably tart at full maturity, sprightly, pleasant; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, acute at the base, blunt at the apex, with nearly smooth surfaces; ventral suture broad, blunt; dorsal suture acute, with a narrow, shallow, indistinct groove.
SIMON
Prunus simonii
1. Rev. Hort. 111. 1872. 2. Horticulturist 27:196. 1872. 3. Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 374, 378. 1881. 4. Ibid. 321. 1884. 5. Rural N. Y. 45:689 fig. 389. 1886. 6. Ibid. 46:766. 1887. 7. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 53, 99. 1889. 8. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 444. 1889. 9. Cal. State Bd. Hort. Rpt. 236, Pl. II figs. 1 and 2, 238. 1890. 10. Rev. Hort. 152 fig. 40. 1891. 11. Penin. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 68. 1891. 12. Cornell Sta. Bul. 51:55. 1893. 13. Mich. Sta. Bul. 103:35. 1894. 14. Guide Prat. 164, 362. 1895. 15. Neb. State Hort. Soc. Rpt. 175. 1895. 16. Kan. Sta. Bul. 73:192. 1897. 17. Vt. Sta. Bul. 67:29. 1898. 18. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 41. 1899. 19. Waugh Plum Cult. 14, 38, 234. 1901.
Apricot Plum 12, 19. Apricot Plum 9, 11. Plum Simon 2. Prune Eugene Simon 8. Prunier de Simon 8, 14. Prunus simoni 4, 7, 17. Prunus Simonii 2. Prunus Simonii 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 19. Prunus simoni 8. Simon 19. Simon’s Chinese Apricot Plum 7. Simon’s Peach 15. Simon’s Plum 5.
The Simon plum, a horticultural variety, constitutes the species Prunus simonii and has been fully discussed in the chapter of this text dealing with the botany of the plum. It is given further notice only to introduce the horticultural references and history and to estimate briefly its value in fruit-growing. As to the latter it may be said that the fruit is for most people unpalatable, and therefore of little worth as an edible product. Some of the crosses of which this variety is one parent are well known and esteemed in pomology and the Simon plum undoubtedly has value for plum-breeding in the future. The tree, where it succeeds, is a handsome ornamental. In New York the variety seems hardy wherever the peach can be grown and thrives on the same types of soils—sands, gravels and light loams. The tree is subject to diseases and unless well sprayed is liable to be short-lived. The variety can be recommended in New York only to the breeder of plums and for those who want the tree as an ornamental or a curiosity.
This interesting and distinct plum was obtained in China by Eugene Simon, a French consul, who sent it to the Paris Museum of Natural History in 1867. Later it was disseminated by the nurseries of Simon Brothers at Plantières-Les-Metz. The date of its introduction into America is unknown, though it was offered for sale by the eastern nurseries as early as 1881. Ellwanger and Barry of Rochester secured their stock from France a few years previous to the date given but whether they were the only importers cannot be said. In 1899 the American Pomological Society added Simon to its catalog list. The variety is fully described under its species.