Cultivar 351: Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a University of Saskatchewan plum introduction released in 1960. It is described as a prairie hybrid from native plum stock crossed with Prunus salicina.[S1] [S3] One prairie index gives the parentage more specifically as P. nigra x P. salicina.[S1] It belongs to a group of cold climate plum selections bred and tested for prairie conditions. In the 1960 University of Saskatchewan introductions, it appears under the selection code P53-13, also shown as P13-53.[S3]

The surviving source trail is small but useful. The 1960 introductions sheet places Saskatchewan in the University of Saskatchewan breeding program at Saskatoon and describes it from field conditions without irrigation.[S3] A later Saskatchewan evaluation still lists it among the university's named introductions, but says it was considered inferior to some other introductions because the fruit lacked size.[S2] That helps explain why it appears in trial literature but does not seem to have been praised as one of the program's standout plums.[S2]

The fruit was described as up to about 1 1/2 inches across, blushed yellow, with moderately firm flesh and good quality.[S3] Its season was given as early to mid September.[S3] No fuller eating or processing notes survive in these cited records. The description suggests a medium sized early autumn plum selected for general quality rather than exceptional size.[S3]

The cited entries do not give direct notes on tree habit, productivity, or disease. Hardiness is also not stated directly.[S1] [S3] The strongest geographic evidence is that it was bred and described by the University of Saskatchewan under non irrigated Saskatoon field conditions. That places it clearly in a prairie testing context, but the packet does not give a zone rating or a clear winter survival statement.[S3]

In broader lineage terms, Saskatchewan belongs to prairie breeding work that combined native plum material with P. salicina to produce larger, better quality fruit for the Canadian interior.[S1] [S3] The sources here do not identify descendants or sibling relationships. They do show why the cultivar matters to the archive: it is one of the named University of Saskatchewan plum introductions from the early modern prairie breeding era, and later evaluators regarded it as useful but not among the largest fruited selections.[S2] [S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S2: hortfacts_1976_3.pdf
• S3: University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960

This summary currently draws chiefly from University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, with 2 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

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

• P53-13 (P13-53) Sask-atchewan ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations ... 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 1/2" each way ... blushed yellow, flesh moderately firm, quality good, season early to mid-Sept.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7
• P53-13 (P13-53) Sask-atchewan ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations ... 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 1/2" each way ... blushed yellow, flesh moderately firm, quality good, season early to mid-Sept.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7
• P53-13 (P13-53) Sask-atchewan ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations ... 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 1/2" each way ... blushed yellow, flesh moderately firm, quality good, season early to mid-Sept.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7
• P53-13 (P13-53) Sask-atchewan ... Native x P. salicina Mixed open pollinations ... 1960 ... Fruit up to 1 1/2" each way ... blushed yellow, flesh moderately firm, quality good, season early to mid-Sept.University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960, p7

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context