6. Prunus Species, Beauty Plum

 

 

Prunus Species, Beauty Plum

Flowers, ripe plum and lanceolate leaves

Beauty Plum, ripeness scale, Photo Rachael Spaeth

 

6. Burbank Plums, prunus species

Curators Note: 

Luther Burbank revolutionized the human perception for what a plum could be.  He did this by cross pollinating distantly related species using conventional breeding techniques. At the time of his death, he had introduced over 100 new cultivars of plums and prunes. His most famous plum contributions were Santa Rosa, Wickson, Beauty, Burbank, and Shiro. He was the first person to hybridize a plum with an apricot and created novelties like the Original Stoneless – a plum that produces a seed, but no pit!  Some of Mr. Burbank’s plum creations are still available commercially today. Others are housed in repositories and traded among rare fruit enthusiasts.  

Rachel A. Spaeth MS, Garden Curator LBH&G

Vulgo: Burbank Plums

 

Name: Prunus species

 

Family: Rosaceae

Habit: Tree

Height: 30 ft (10 M)

Native to: Northern Hemisphere

 

Leaf type: Simple

 

Shape: Lanceolate to ovate

 

Tip: Acuminate

 

Margin: Serrulate

 

Venation: Pinnate

 

Surface: Smooth to slightly hairy

 

Size: 2-4 in (5-7cm)

 

Arrangement: Alternate

 

Photos: Rachel Spaeth 

Pen and ink: Amber R Turner © 2020