V70034

Plum

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Valerie', 'Vanette', 'Bluefre' and 'Stanley'

Summary: 'V70034'is a European plum variety that matures very early, approximately five weeks earlier than 'Stanley'.It is slightly earlier in maturing than 'Vanette' and 'Valerie'. 'V70034' is a self-fertile variety, whereas 'Valerie', 'Vanette' and 'Stanley' are not self-fertile. The variety is also distinguished by the lack of pubescent on the one-year old shoots, compared with all reference varieties which have moderate pubescence. The leaves of 'V70034' have weak pubescence on the upper side, whereas the reference varieties have no pubescence on the upper surface. The fruit of 'V70034' is larger than the fruit of 'Vanette' and 'Stanley' and it differs in shape from 'Valerie' and 'Stanley' which have very oblong shaped fruit. The stone of 'V70034' is very small relative to the fruit size, whereas the reference varieties have medium or large sized stones. The flesh is amber coloured while the flesh of 'Bluefre' is yellowish green.

Description:

'V70034' is a plum variety which produces moderately vigourous trees with an upright to spreading growth habit and a dense crown. There are a moderate number of side shoots. One year old shoots are moderately thin, reddish brown in colour and have a semi-erect attitude. There is no pubescence on the one-year old shoots, moderately few lenticels and no flowers. The spurs are short to medium in length. The vegetative bud is very small and conical in shape with a pointed apex. The bud is adpressed to the shoot, with a small to medium, decurrent bud support. Current season shoots are strongly pubescent with weak anthocyanin colouration at the tip.

The leaves of 'V70034' have a horizontal orientation. The leaf blade is broad obovate with a slightly obtuse angle and a mucronate tip. The base of the leaf is U-shaped. 'V70034' has medium green leaves which are moderately glossy, with weak pubescence on the upper side and strong pubescence on the lower side. The leaf margins are crenate, with no secondary serrations. The petiole has medium pubescence on the upper side and weak pubescence on the lower side. The groove is moderate in depth. There are usually two glands which are located on the leaf base and petiole.

'V70034' flowers mid to late-season. The flowers are large with a thick, glabrous peduncle. The receptacle is moderately deep with no pubescence on the inner or outer surface. The sepals are elliptic in shape and adpressed to the petals. The sepals are pubescent on the inner and outer surfaces. 'V70034' has creamy white flowers with no double petals. The petals are transverse broad elliptic in shape and are touching each other. The petal margins are weakly wavy, the base angle is wide and the upper margin is dentate. There is no pubescence on the margin or on the inner or outer side of the petals. The stigma is level with the anthers and there are no supplementary pistils. The ovary and style of the flowers are glabrous. The anthers are yellow. 'V70034' is a self-fertile variety.

'V70034' produces large fruit which ripen very early in the season. The general fruit shape is elliptic with the position of maximum diameter towards the middle. From the front view the fruit is symmetrical. The suture is medium in depth and uniform along its length. 'V70034' has medium bloom on the skin. The apex of the fruit is flat and glabrous. The fruit stalk has weak pubescence and the stalk cavity is moderately deep. 'V70034' produces fruit with a violet-blue to dark blue ground colour and reddish dots on the skin. The flesh is amber in colour and moderate in firmness, juiciness and texture. The acidity is medium to high and the sugar content is moderately low.

The stone of 'V70034' does not adhere to the fruit flesh. It is small in size relative to the fruit and asymmetric and rounded in lateral view. In ventral view the stone is symmetrical and sub-globular to flattened and in basal view it is round elliptical in shape. There is no keel. The lateral surfaces of the stone are granular and the margins of the dorsal groove are entire. The sharpness of the edges of the stone is relatively weak. The ventral zone and stalk end are both moderately broad. The angle of the stalk end is approximately 90 degrees. The apex of the stone is moderately rounded.

Origin & Breeding History: 'V70034' originated from a controlled hybridization of two European plums, 'Valor' (female parent) and 'California Blue' (male parent), made in 1970 and designated with the number 7003. 'Valor' is a mid to late-maturing, violet-blue, medium to large sized, firm, semi-clingstone European plum. Flowers of 'Valor' were pollinated with pollen from 'California Blue', which is an early maturing European plum that is red-blue, large, firm and freestone. Progeny was collected, stratified, germinated and planted out on their own roots in a test evaluation block at Vineland Station for individual evaluation and subsequent selection. This selection was made in 1977, designated V70034 and advanced to further tests. It was propagated onto a commercial rootstock and planted in test plots in Vineland in 1979, 1985 and 1992 for further evaluation and comparison.

Tests & Trials: Tests and trials for 'V70034' were conducted at the University of Guelph research facility at Vineland Station, Ontario from 2001 to 2003. There were six trees per variety in the test. The trees were 12 years old and were growing on Myrobalan B rootstock. Measured characteristics were based on a minimum of 20 measurements.