Cultivar 166: Bounty

Bounty is a prairie plum. Sources record it as a seedling of Assiniboine and place it under Prunus nigra or in native plum context.[S2] [S4] [S5] It was developed at Morden, Manitoba, and became one of the hardy named plums recommended for colder prairie districts and other less favorable zones.[S3] [S4] Its main historical role was practical: a hardy red plum for prairie gardens, valued for both fruit and pollination in plantings of red hybrid plums.[S1] [S3] [S6]

Sources tie Bounty closely to the Morden breeding program and to Assiniboine. A prairie production guide calls it an Assiniboine seedling developed by the Morden Experimental Station in Manitoba.[S3] A prairie cultivar index also lists it as a P. nigra 'Assiniboine' seedling introduced by the Morden Research Station at Morden, Manitoba.[S4] A 1946 prairie orchard bulletin adds that the Assiniboine seed that produced Bounty, Morden, and Northern came from the Minnesota State Fruit Breeding Farm in 1922.[S5] Sources disagree on the key year: one index gives 1936, while other descriptions point to 1939.[S3] [S4] [S5]

The fruit is described as medium to fairly large, about 3.5 cm across or about 1 1/8 to 1 1/2 inches, roundish oblong and somewhat wedge shaped.[S3] [S4] [S5] The skin is dark red to red, often with a light waxy bloom and dots, and the flesh is yellow to orange yellow.[S3] [S4] [S5] [S6] Sources describe the flesh as tender, juicy, mellow, and sweet, but dessert quality as only fair. The usual use is canning or processing rather than top quality fresh eating.[S3] [S5] [S6] It ripens in late August, with one source placing it in the third week of August.[S3] [S5]

Tree descriptions present Bounty as upright spreading, vigorous, annually productive, and very hardy.[S5] Saskatchewan notes also describe it as used mainly as a pollinator, which matches broader guidance that red hybrid plums do not pollinate one another well and need an additional pollinator.[S6] In recommendation tables it appears among native plums for cross pollination and among plums suited to less favorable prairie zones. This supports its reputation as a dependable utility cultivar rather than a tender specialty fruit.[S1] [S3]

Its hardiness is one of the clearest parts of the record. Prairie sources call it very hardy, place it among cultivars for less favorable zones, and include it in cold climate recommendation lists for the Canadian prairies and South Dakota.[S1] [S3] [S5] A Saskatchewan source says it appears hardy through Zones 4 and 4A there, which fits wider prairie use but is not the same as a formal modern hardiness zone rating.[S6]

Bounty matters in the prairie archive because it connects native plum hardiness, Morden selection work, and the long effort to build useful fruit for severe continental climates.[S3] [S4] [S5] It also belongs to the same Assiniboine derived line that produced other named prairie plums, showing how one hardy seed source could shape a regional breeding history.[S5]

Summary source basis

• S1: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S2: {Replace with the Title of Your Dissertation}
• S3: Tree fruit production for the Prairie Provinces
• S4: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S5: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ
• S6: hortfacts_1976_3.pdf

This summary currently draws chiefly from hortfacts_1976_3.pdf, with 4 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Listed under Plums and Hybrids in the page's 'List of Varieties Described.'”
— ^[6]

“Fruit diameter 3.5; maturity medium.”
— ^[5]

“Very hardy.”
— ^[4]

“Flesh orange yellow, tender, juicy, sweet.”
— ^[6]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• NATIVE PLUMS | For Cross Pollination | other | BountySouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• NATIVE PLUMS | For Cross Pollination | other | BountySouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• NATIVE PLUMS | For Cross Pollination | other | BountySouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• NATIVE PLUMS | For Cross Pollination | other | BountySouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context