''Prunus simonii'', called apricot plum and Simon plum, is a tree in the genus ''
Prunus''. It was first described by
Elie-Abel Carrière in 1872 and is native to
Hebei province, China.
The species is not known in a truly wild state.
It has been important for breeding commercial
plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...
cultivars from crosses with other species of the genus ''Prunus''.
The species is named for Gabriel Eugène Simon (1829–1896), a French botanist and diplomat who sent pits to the
Paris Museum
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Sin ...
in the early 1860s while he was representing the French government in China.
[Gledhill, D. (2008). ''The Names of Plants.'' Cambridge University Press, p. 353.][Bretschneider, E. (1898). ''History of European Botanical Discoveries in China.'' London: Sampson Low, vol. 2, pp. 827-833.][Baltet, Charles (1895). ''L'horticulture dans les cinq parties du monde.'' Paris: Société nationale d'horticulture, p. 406.]
Beginning about 1881, the species became commonly known in the United States; having been introduced there from France.
Description
''Prunus simonii'' is a small deciduous tree growing to about in height.
The flowers produce almost no pollen; the fruit varies in quality, can be bitter or pleasant to eat, and is flat in shape.
Just like an apricot, the fruit flesh clings tightly to the pit. The taste is often bitter. Fruit production is not particularly bountiful. The fruit is dark red
or "brick red".
The branches are slender and the leaves oblong.
In appearance, the fruit is flatter than most plums, looking "tomato-like".
The fruit is particularly aromatic, much more so than ''
Prunus salicina'', with a comparatively high level of
hexyl acetate
Hexyl acetate is an ester with the molecular formula C8H16O2. It is mainly used as a solvent for resins, polymers, fats and oils. It is also used as a paint additive to improve its dispersion on a surface.
Hexyl acetate is also used as a flavori ...
, which gives apples their aroma.
Uses
Plant breeder
Luther Burbank devoted a lot of work to hybridizing this species with the Japanese plum (''
Prunus salicina'') and developed a number of cultivars from the hybrid.
Of these, the cultivar '
Climax
Climax may refer to:
Language arts
* Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work
* Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance
Biology
* Climax community, a biological community th ...
' was particularly notable for its importance to the fruit shipping industry of California.
Other influential plum cultivars that Burbank developed with ''P. simonii'' ancestry include 'Maynard', 'Chalco', 'Santa Rosa', and 'Formosa'.
Those two species and the European species ''
Prunus cerasifera'' have contributed the majority of the genetic constitution of modern Japanese-type plum cultivars, with lesser contributions from three native American species ''
P. americana'', ''
P. angustifolia'', and ''
P. munsoniana''.
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3017242
Plants described in 1872
simonii
simonii