Buds variable in size, conical, free, arranged singly or in thin clusters from lateral buds and from spurs; leaf-scars prominent; season of bloom intermediate; flowers white, one and one-half inches across; borne in scattering clusters in ones or in twos; pedicels variable in length, averaging one inch long, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube green, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes tinged with red, long, rather narrow, acuminate, serrate, reflexed; petals oval, entire, dentate at the apex, with short, narrow claws; filaments one-half inch long; pistil glabrous, shorter than the stamens, often defective. Fruit matures in mid-season; over one inch in diameter, conical to long-cordate, compressed; cavity deep, wide, flaring; suture a distinct line; apex much pointed; color, varying shades of bright red over a yellowish background, distinctly mottled; dots obscure; stem slender, more than one inch long, adherent to the fruit; skin thin, rather adherent; flesh whitish, with a faint yellow tinge, with colorless juice, tender, meaty, crisp, mild, the flavor improving as the season advances, sweet; good to very good in quality; stone semi-clinging, small, ovate, flattened, pointed, with smooth surfaces. NOUVELLE ROYALE _Prunus avium_ × _Prunus cerasus_ =1.= _Flor. & Pom._ 72, Pl. 1862. =2.= _Gard. Mon._ =7=:248. 1865. =3.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 70, 88. 1866. =4.= Mas _Le Verger_ =8=:147, 148, fig. 72. 1866-73. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 484. 1869. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 31. 1875. =7.= Gaucher _Pom. Prak. Obst._ No. 80, Tab. 33. 1894. =8.= _Guide Prat._ 9. 1895. If this cherry were to be judged by its behavior on the grounds of this Station, it would be called one of the best of the hybrid Dukes. In particular, it would be commended by its product, the trees not making as good a showing as the fruit. The cherries are distinguished by their large size, dark red color, glossy surface, good quality, lateness in maturity and, even more particularly, sweetness, keeping in mind that the variety is a hybrid and not a true Sweet Cherry. The shape, too, offers a distinguishing character, the fruits being more oblate than in any other Duke. The long, stout stem is still another characteristic. Unfortunately the tree, while satisfactory in all other respects, is unproductive--a fatal fault in these days of commercial fruit-growing. Nouvelle Royale is not widely known in America and may well be given trial by those who want a late Duke. This variety is supposed from its fruit- and tree-characters to be a hybrid between Early Richmond and May Duke but where, how and when it came to light is not known. Downing, in 1869, mentions the Nouvelle Royale as having recently been introduced into this country and it was noted in the Report of the American Pomological Society for 1875 but has never received a place upon the Society's fruit catalog list.