Fruit late, season of medium length; one and three-eighths inches by one and one-quarter inches in size, obovate, a little necked, yellow, blotched with red on the exposed cheek, covered with thin bloom; stem long; apex strongly depressed; flesh pale yellow, firm but tender, sweet, aromatic; very good; stone semi-clinging, three-quarters inch by one-half inch in size, oval. BELGIAN PURPLE _Prunus domestica_ =1.= Downing =Fr. Trees Am.= 373. 1857, =2.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 351. 1866. =3.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 27. 1871. =4.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:105. 1866-73. =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1877. =6.= _Cat. Cong. Pom. France_ 340. 1887. =7.= _Guide Prat._ 153, 352. 1895. _Bleue de Perk_ 4. _Bleue de Bergues_ 3, 7. _Bleue de Belgique_ 1, 7. _Bleu de Perque_ 1. _Blaue von Belgien_ 4, 7. _Bleu de Bergues_ 6. _Bleu de Peck_ 6. _Belgian Purple_ 4, 6, 7. Bleue de Belgique 7. _Belgische Damascene_ 7. _Bleue de Perck_ 7. Bleu de Belgique 6. _Fertheringham_ 3 incor. Prune Bleue de Belgique 3. Belgian Purple is a medium grade plum of little value for dessert but rather highly esteemed for culinary purposes, especially in Europe. It probably has but a small place in American pomology. Concerning the origin of the variety, nothing is known although it is generally believed to have originated in Belgium prior to 1850. Tree large, vigorous, round and dense-topped, not always hardy, very productive; branchlets numerous, thick, pubescent throughout the season; leaf-scars prominent; leaves flattened or folded upward, oval, one and five-eighths inches wide, three and one-half inches long; margin serrate or crenate; petiole five-eighths inch long, glandless or with from one to two small glands usually at the base of the leaf; flowers nearly one inch across, white, with a peculiar greenish and creamy tinge near the apex of the petals and often splashed with pink towards the base; borne on lateral buds and spurs; calyx-tube thickly pubescent. Fruit mid-season; medium to below in size, roundish-oval, purplish-black, overspread with thick bloom; flesh rich, golden-yellow, medium juicy, firm, sweet, mild; fair to good; stone nearly free, of medium size, oval, flattened, often with a distinct wing. BELLE [Illustration: BELLE] _Prunus domestica_ =1.= _Horticulturist_ =10=:71. 1855. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 394. 1857. =3.= _Flor. & Pom._ 144, Pl. 1863. =4.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 351, 384. 1866. =5.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:27, fig. 14. 1866-73. =6.= _Le Bon Jard._ 341. 1882. 7. Barry _Fr. Garden_ 410. 1883. 8. Decaisne & Naudin _Man. Am. des Jard._ =4=:382. =9.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 449, 451. 1889. =10.= _Garden_ =50=:295. 1896. =11.= Rivers _Cat._ 33. 1898. =12.= Fish _Hardy-Fr. Bk._ =2=:55. =13.= Thompson _Gard. Ass’t_ =4=:156. 1901. =14.= Waugh _Plum Cult._ 96. 1901.