Cultivar 158: Sapa

Sapa is a cherry-plum hybrid in Prunus, bred from western sand cherry (Prunus besseyi) and the Japanese plum Sultan. Sources describe it as one of the best known and most widely grown early Hansen sand cherry-plum hybrids. It was valued for dark flesh, early bearing, and strong processing quality. It was introduced or first offered in 1908 through the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station at Brookings. Its Sioux name means "black." [S6] [S8] [S9] [S11]

Its origin is unusually clear. Hansen described Sapa as a selected western sand cherry seedling crossed with pollen from Sultan, a large purple-fleshed Japanese plum bred by Luther Burbank in California. Early bulletins say Sapa first fruited in 1907 on a tree that had been cut back hard for bud sticks, then was sent out in spring 1908. Later indexes and prairie references kept the 1908 date and repeated the cross as P. besseyi x P. salicina or, more specifically, sand cherry x Sultan. [S6] [S8] [S9] [S10]

The fruit is consistently described as dark and strongly pigmented. Prairie and South Dakota sources call it purple to deep purple with a bluish bloom, with dark purple or dark purple-red flesh. Early fruit was about 1 inch across, while later references place it around 2.5 cm and small to small-medium in size. Its main value was processing: preserves, jam, canning, sauce, and other kitchen uses. Several sources note the rich red color of the cooked product, and one says processing plants preferred Sapa and Oka for the color and quality of their preserves. Fresh eating appears to have been less important than processing value. [S1] [S5] [S8] [S9] [S11]

Sapa ripens early to late August, depending on the source, though prairie references usually place it in late August. One South Dakota account called it extremely early. Later comparisons say related cultivars such as Sansoto and Cheresoto ripened after Opata and Sapa were already gone. Storage is poorly documented, but one processing note says the fruit could be quick frozen without losing excellent flavor. [S1] [S5] [S8] [S9]

The plant is described as vigorous, precocious, and productive. Hansen's bulletins say these hybrids often bore on one-year-old nursery wood, and Sapa itself was praised for heavy bearing and many fruit buds on young trees. Later prairie notes describe it as a bushy, spreading, small plant that is very productive. Multiple sources advise growing these sand cherry hybrids in bush form with several stems from the ground, because much of the bearing wood is lost if they are trained to a single trunk. The best fruit is borne on young wood, so renewal pruning matters. [S1] [S2] [S10] [S11]

Its hardiness is shown more by where it was recommended than by formal zone language. South Dakota extension tables place Sapa among Hansen cherry-plums for all zones, including the colder prairie parts of the state, and Prairie Provinces recommendations list it for both more favorable and less favorable zones. That does not prove a formal hardiness zone, but it places Sapa firmly in the cold climate prairie fruit tradition. Hansen also wrote that Sapa and Opata were grown from Texas north into Canada. [S2] [S4] [S5] [S8] [S11]

Sapa is important in the archive because it sits near the center of the early sand cherry x Japanese plum breeding story. It was one of the key named hybrids from Hansen's work, often grouped with Opata and Oka, and later records show it serving as a reference point for related selections and breeding material. Sources also treat it as a benchmark for the red-fleshed hybrids, and one later summary calls it the leading representative of the sand cherry x Sultan group. [S1] [S8] [S9] [S10]

What remains uncertain is minor. Sources agree on the 1908 introduction or first offering, but they describe the season with slightly different wording, from extremely early or late August to simply late. The broader species formula is stable, while the more specific pollen parent Sultan comes from the richer narrative sources and should be preferred when telling the cultivar's origin story. [S6] [S8] [S9] [S10]

Summary source basis

• S1: New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest
• S2: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S3: Nursery Plants Available from South Dakota Nurseries
• S4: 9c684c14 7509 4b78 a803 0bf01a64aa28
• S5: Tree fruit production for the Prairie Provinces
• S6: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S7: Northern Plant Novelties for 1944
• S8: New Hybrid Fruits

This summary currently draws chiefly from Some New Fruits, with 13 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Sapa is the most favored of the red-fleshed hybrids.”
— ^[7]

“Usually comes into bearing the year after transplanting, practically as early as berries.”
— ^[8]

“Presented as an example of a fruit that gives quick results in the home fruit garden.”
— ^[8]

“One of the most widely grown cherry-plum hybrids.”
— ^[7]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• Sapa is given as P. besseyi x P. salicina.
• Listed as a (P. besseyi x P. salicina) seedling.
• Sapa is a resulting hybrid from sand cherry crossed with Japanese plum pollen, and specifically one of the varieties from sand cherry x Sultan plum pollen.
• Sapa is named among the best seedlings of the Dakota sand cherry x Japanese plum pollen pedigree.
• Sapa is one of the varieties resulting from the sand cherry x Sultan plum pollen cross.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• My sand cherry hybrids, such as Opata, Sapa, Sansoto, Ochesoto, and Wachampa should be kept in bush form with many stems close to the ground.Northern novelties for 1921 : some new fruits, ornamentals, etc., p3
• My sand cherry hybrids, such as Opata, Sapa, Sansoto, Ochesoto, and Wachampa should be kept in bush form with many stems close to the ground.Northern novelties for 1921 : some new fruits, ornamentals, etc., p3
• My sand cherry hybrids, such as Opata, Sapa, Sansoto, Ochesoto, and Wachampa should be kept in bush form with many stems close to the ground.Northern novelties for 1921 : some new fruits, ornamentals, etc., p3
• My sand cherry hybrids, such as Opata, Sapa, Sansoto, Ochesoto, and Wachampa should be kept in bush form with many stems close to the ground.Northern novelties for 1921 : some new fruits, ornamentals, etc., p3

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context