North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

I was having a discussion of the genetic background or ancestry of some popular plum varieties with a member and he surprised me with the info that Shiro and Methely are not purely salicina.  I spent several minutes on-line trying to find a site with further information and the quest was fruitless (no pun...).

 

He suggests that pure Japanese varieties, of which he includes Santa Rosa as an example, don't tend to set fruit well in the east because of their pure salicina genes.  I always assumed that Santa Rosa was a shy cropper as result of our climate because some years with mild winters it sets pretty well.  I figure it to be a warm weather plum.

 

I would greatly appreciate any clarification and information sources any of you can provide including some genetic background on common plum varieties, especially those usually described as exclusively Japanese.