Cultivar 349: Robinson

Robinson is a plum introduced by the University of Saskatchewan in 1960. It was part of prairie breeding work based on native plum material and Japanese plum influence. Prairie cultivar indexes list it as a Prunus nigra x P. salicina hybrid [S2]. The University of Saskatchewan introduction list identifies it as selection P60-101 from native x P. salicina mixed open pollinations [S4]. These statements agree on the general hybrid background, but not on an exact controlled cross. [S2] [S4]

The 1960 introduction sheet says Robinson produces red fruit up to about 1 3/4 inches long, with firm flesh, very good quality, and a mid to late September season under unirrigated Saskatoon conditions. [S4] This places it among the later ripening prairie plums of its era. The fruit quality note is also stronger than the later Saskatchewan commentary that treated it mainly as limited by size. [S4]

Later University of Saskatchewan evaluation grouped Robinson with Eclipse, Gilman, Hoffmann, Perfection, and Saskatchewan as introductions considered inferior to some other university plums because of lack of size. [S3] That criticism appears to refer to comparative market or table size, not poor eating quality, since the original introduction note still describes the flesh as firm and the fruit quality as very good. [S3] [S4]

Robinson belongs to the early University of Saskatchewan plum introduction wave and to the broader prairie effort to combine native hardiness with better fruit from P. salicina ancestry. [S2] [S4] The sources do not give a direct hardiness rating, but its Saskatoon introduction context and continued inclusion in prairie cultivar records place it within that cold climate breeding tradition. [S2] [S4]

Summary source basis

• S1: Nursery Plants Available from South Dakota Nurseries
• S2: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S3: hortfacts_1976_3.pdf
• S4: University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960

This summary currently draws chiefly from University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, with 4 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Deemed inferior to other introductions because of lack of size.”
— ^[5]

“Listed by South Dakota nursery reference number 6.”
— ^[3]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• P. nigra x P. salicina.
• Parentage listed as native x Prunus salicina, mixed open pollinations.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• P60-101 Robinson ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations. 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 3/4" in length ... red, flesh firm and quality very good, season mid to late September.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7
• P60-101 Robinson ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations. 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 3/4" in length ... red, flesh firm and quality very good, season mid to late September.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7
• P60-101 Robinson ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations. 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 3/4" in length ... red, flesh firm and quality very good, season mid to late September.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7
• P60-101 Robinson ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations. 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 3/4" in length ... red, flesh firm and quality very good, season mid to late September.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context