Cultivar 380: Baldwin

Baldwin is an Americana plum described in South Dakota station literature as a productive late season variety with dark red fruit under a heavy blue bloom. It was received in 1896 from L. O. Williams of Mills County, Iowa. Station plantings set out that year were reported as very productive, even overbearing. [S1]

The fruit is described as round and regular, with a flat apex, a deep narrow cavity, and a distinct suture line. The skin is thick and somewhat astringent. It is dark red and slightly mottled with dull yellow beneath a heavy bloom. The flesh is dark yellow, pleasantly acid, and rated medium in quality. The pit is semi free and medium sized. [S1]

Baldwin ripened about September 4 to 7 in the South Dakota observations. Sources describe it as only fair in quality, but say it kept well after picking and was likely a good shipper. [S1]

The tree was described as strong, open, and spreading. Eight trees planted in 1896 had overborne by the past season. In 1904, the crop was so heavy that the plums were too small for satisfactory description. That year the fruit was also reported to drop badly before coloring. This suggests a weakness in management or crop load despite heavy bearing. [S1]

The hardiness evidence here is indirect, not a stated zone rating. Baldwin was grown and evaluated by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station under northern Great Plains conditions. That supports it as a plum of regional interest for prairie testing, but this packet does not make a direct zone claim. [S1]

In the broader archive context, Baldwin is placed with the Americana plums rather than Japanese or European types. This matters because the Americana group was central to northern plum growing and breeding across the upper plains, where adaptation, productivity, and shipping value often mattered as much as dessert quality. Baldwin appears to have been remembered less for exceptional eating quality than for performance, keeping ability, and commercial usefulness. [S1]

Summary source basis

• S1: Plums in South Dakota
• S2: Fruit Culture

This summary currently draws chiefly from Plums in South Dakota, with 1 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Received in 1896 from L. O. Williams, Mills county, Iowa.”
— ^[1]

“The tree over-bore in 1904 so that the plums ran too small for satisfactory description.”
— ^[1]

“Form round, regular, apex flat, cavity deep, narrow, suture a line.”
— ^[1]

“Eight trees planted in 1896 have proven very productive and over-bore the past season.”
— ^[1]

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

• Baldwin, Americana.Plums in South Dakota, p10
• Baldwin, Americana.Plums in South Dakota, p10
• Baldwin, Americana.Plums in South Dakota, p10
• Baldwin, Americana.Plums in South Dakota, p10

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context