Early Orleans is old and of unknown origin. Duhamel in 1768 considered it a variety of the Orleans, differing only in the time of ripening but there are additional differences as can be seen in the descriptions of the two. It is true, however, that these two plums are very similar. According to Kenrick, Wilmot’s New Early Orleans was raised by John Wilmot, an Englishman. Though it may be of separate origin it is practically identical with the Early Orleans. Tree small, upright-spreading, hardy, productive; branches ash-gray, smooth, with small, inconspicuous, oval lenticels; branchlets thick, with rather short internodes, covered with thin bloom and marked with scarf-skin, dull brownish-drab, pubescent, with a medium number of small, raised lenticels; leaf-buds intermediate in size and length, conical, free, plump; leaf-scars enlarged. Leaves folded upward, two and one-quarter inches wide, four inches long, roundish-oval or obovate, thick; apex abruptly pointed, base acute, margin crenate and with small, dark glands; upper surface light green, sparingly pubescent and with a grooved midrib; lower surface silvery-green, pubescent; petiole three-quarters inch long, thick, pubescent, faintly tinged red, with from one to three large, globose glands mostly on the stalk. Season of bloom intermediate in time and length; flowers appearing after the leaves, nearly one-half inch across, white, the buds yellow-tipped as they unfold; borne in clusters on short lateral spurs, in pairs; pedicels one-half inch long, thick, pubescent, green; calyx-tube greenish, campanulate, thinly pubescent; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse, glandular, pubescent on both surfaces, reflexed; petals roundish, entire, not clawed; filaments five-sixteenths inch long; pistil glabrous, equal to the stamens in length. Fruit early, season short; one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish-oval, slightly truncate, halves equal; cavity shallow, narrow, abrupt; suture shallow or a line; apex roundish to flattened or sometimes depressed, often oblique; color dark reddish-purple, covered with thick bloom; dots numerous, small, russet, inconspicuous; stem of average thickness, five-eighths inch long, pubescent, adhering well to the fruit; skin thin, tough, not astringent, separating readily; flesh lemon-yellow, juicy, coarse, firm, sweet, mild but pleasant; very good; stone free, three-quarters inch by five-eighths inch in size, oval, slightly oblique, blunt-pointed, with rough and slightly honeycombed surfaces. EARLY RIVERS _Prunus domestica_