This variety is one of the earliest of the Triflora plums and although the flavor is not as agreeable as that of the best sorts of its species, as Burbank or Abundance, it is much better than that of Earliest of All, with which it competes in season. Almost nothing is known regarding the history and origin of Engre. It was first mentioned in 1890 in the catalog of J. L. Normand, Marksville, Louisiana, and in all probability is one of his numerous importations from Japan. The origin of the name is not known. Tree of medium size, vasiform, dense-topped, productive; branches slightly thorny, with numerous fruit-spurs; branchlets very short and stubby, glabrous; leaf-buds plump; leaves reddish when young, oblanceolate, one and three-eighths inches wide, three inches long; margin doubly crenate, with small brownish glands; petiole tinged red, glandless or with one or two small, reniform glands on the stalk; blooming season early; flowers appearing with the leaves, five-eighths inch across; borne on lateral buds and spurs, in twos or in threes; calyx-lobes red at the margin; anthers pinkish. Fruit very early; about one and one-quarter inches in diameter, roundish; cavity deep; color dark pinkish-red, covered with thin bloom; dots numerous, conspicuous; skin astringent; flesh yellowish, tender and melting, sweet near the surface, but sour next the pit, low in flavor; poor; stone clinging, five-eighths inch by one-half inch in size, roundish-oval, turgid; ventral suture broad, blunt. ESPEREN _Prunus domestica_ =1.= _Mag. Hort._ =15=:298. 1849. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 380. 1857. =3.= _Flor. & Pom._ 4, Pl. 1863. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 916. 1869. =5.= _Pom. France_ =7=: No. 1. 1871. =6.= Mas _Le Verger_ =6=:65. 1866-73. =7.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ 12. 1882. _Cloth of Gold Esperen_ 4. _Cloth of Gold_ 2, 7. Drap d’Or of Esperin 1, 2. _Drap d’Or d’Esperen_ 3, 6, 7. _Drap d’Or Esperen_ 4. Drap d’Or d’Esperen 5. _Drap d’Or of Esperen_ 6. Esperen’s Goldpflaume 7. _Golden Esperen_ 5, 7. Golden Esperen 4. Golden Esperen Plum 3. Were there not so many handsome, well-flavored plums of the Reine Claude group, Esperen might well be recommended to the amateur at least, for it is first class in appearance and quality. But the fruits are small and the tree-characters are not such that the variety can compete with the standard Reine Claude plums. Esperen was produced from seed in 1830 by Major Esperen of Malines, Belgium; it was first fruited in 1844, and was introduced in 1847 by Louis Van Houtte of Ghent, Belgium. It obtained the designation Drap d’Or from its close resemblance to that variety.