ARKANSAS
Prunus munsoniana
1. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 162. 1881. 2. Cornell Sta. Bul. 38:60, 86. 1892. 3. Tex. Sta. Bul. 32:478. 1894. 4. Wis. Sta. Bul. 63:27. 1897. 5. Waugh Plum Cult. 192, 194 fig. 1901. 6. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 293. 1903. 7. Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 488. 1904.
Arkansas Lombard 1, 2, 3, 4, 7. Arkansas Lombard 5, 6.
Arkansas, as the synonymy shows, originally, and even now, usually has Lombard as a suffix, but the name is misleading as the plum is in no wise like a Lombard and following the rules of the American Pomological Society it has been dropped in The Plums of New York. On the grounds of this Station, Arkansas is one of the most valuable plums of its species, being unusually attractive in size, color and shape and one of the best in quality of its kind. Its chief fault is a lack of robustness in the tree. While it would not prove profitable as a market plum in New York, it could be well planted in a commercial orchard in regions where native plums must be grown, and in New York it would at least add a pleasing variety to any collection of plums. This variety was brought to notice by T. V. Munson in 1881. It originated in Arkansas and was introduced by J. D. Morrow & Sons of that state.
Tree small, flattened, spreading, dense-topped, symmetrical, hardy, productive, somewhat subject to shot-hole fungus; trunk shaggy; branches rough, zigzag, sparingly thorny, dark ash-gray, with numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, with very short internodes, greenish-red changing to reddish-brown, glossy, glabrous, with few, conspicuous, raised lenticels; leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, free.
Leaves folded upward, lanceolate, peach-like, one and one-quarter inches wide, three and one-half inches long, thin; upper surface light green, smooth, glabrous, with grooved midrib; lower surface pale green, sparingly pubescent along the midrib and larger veins; apex taper-pointed, base acute, margin finely serrate, with light brown glands; petiole one-half inch long, slender, pubescent on one side, dull red, with from one to six small, globose, yellow or brownish-red glands.
Blooming season late and long; flowers appearing after the leaves, five-eighths inch across, in the buds creamy-yellow changing to white as they unfold; with a strong disagreeable odor; borne in very dense clusters on lateral buds and spurs, in threes or fours; pedicels one-half inch long, slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, sparingly pubescent on the inner surface, glandular-serrate, faintly hairy and with a trace of red on the margin, erect; petals obovate, crenate, with narrow claws, somewhat hairy at the base; anthers yellowish; filaments nearly one-quarter inch in length; pistil glabrous, slightly shorter than the stamens.
Fruit early, season very long; one inch by seven-eighths inch in size, roundish-ovate, halves slightly unequal; cavity shallow, flaring, regular; suture an indistinct line; apex roundish or pointed; color bright currant-red, with thin bloom; dots smallish, white, conspicuous, clustered about the apex; stem very slender, five-eighths inch long, glabrous, not adhering to the fruit; skin thin, tough, bitter, separating readily; flesh orange-yellow, juicy, fibrous, somewhat tender and melting, sweet at the skin but sour at the center, aromatic; good; stone clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval, flattened and prolonged at the base, sharp-tipped at the apex; ventral suture acute, faintly ridged; dorsal suture acute.