European plum Find from Buryatia

Selection of the Buryat Fruit and Berry Experimental Station. Selected among seedlings from open pollination of Ulmus persica varieties. Authors: O.S. Bolotский, S.P. Vauлина, A.S. Sholоkhova, T.I. Prokof’eva, N.N. Platоnova. Introduced into the State Register in 1990 for the East Siberian region.

Medium-sized tree, vigorously growing in the first 3-4 years. Crown is bushy, raised, dense. Bark is flaking, gray. Branches are medium, straight, light-brown, bare. Leaves are medium, inversely egg-shaped, long-pointed, base tapered, glabrous. Leaf margin is doubly serrated. Petiole is medium (1.0 cm), thin, pigmented, glands small, 1-2 pieces. Inflorescence is umbel, flowers rose-colored, medium, white. Petals are oval-shaped, 7-9 mm long, 5-7 mm wide, well-spread. Stamens (20-25) equal in length to pistil, calyx green, glabrous. Fruit-bearing mainly on 2-3-year-old wood. Fruit clusters are mainly on bouquet branches.

Fruit are medium-sized, average weight 14.5 g. Shape is round, apex rounded, base with indentation, pit medium, wide. Fruit sutures are small, barely visible, do not crack. Pedicel is short, thin, detaches well from branch, attachment to pit is weak. Main fruit color is yellow, covering dark-red, in dots. Numerous subcutaneous dots, red, barely visible. Skin is medium, glabrous, with weak waxy coating, flesh yellow, medium consistency, juicy, slightly fibrous. Pit is semi-detached, round shape, smooth. Average pit weight to total fruit weight is 6.9%. Appearance attractiveness 4.0 points, taste sour-sweet, 4.1 points, fruits aromatic. Dry matter content — 12.9%, sugars — 7.8%, acids — 2.1%, vitamin P — 154.4 mg/100g, ascorbic acid — 10.1 mg/100g. Transportability medium, versatile variety.

Average flowering period: from May 24 to June 5, ripening: August 20-25. Enters fruiting on the 5th year after grafting in nursery. Tree longevity 25-30 years. Self-sterile. Annual fruiting, abundant after 2-3 years. Average yield per tree 5 kg, maximum — 12 kg.

Winter hardiness medium, in severe years (prolonged frosts -35ºC, -40ºC) individual skeletal branches die, up to 40% flower buds freeze. Flower buds withstand spring frosts down to -3ºC, at lower temperatures pistils die. Moderately drought-resistant. Damaged by clasterosporiosis on 1 point, plum fruit moth without treatment damage 100%.

Suitable for commercial planting with mandatory condition — planting on elevated areas, slopes.

Advantages of the variety: winter-hardy, early ripening, good fruit taste.

Disadvantages: pit does not always detach well from flesh, insufficiently winter-hardy flower buds.