Cultivar 401: Early Minnesota

Sources using the name Early Minnesota do not describe one clearly unified cultivar. One source treats it as an Americana plum found wild by Joseph Wood of Windom, Minnesota. It describes a hardy, very productive, low, spreading tree with an open habit, small yellowish red fruit, sweet juicy flesh, and a rather thick but sweet skin. In South Dakota records from 1903 and 1904, this plum ripened about August 24. It was considered useful as a very early fruit and was noted as a fairly good keeper that would ship well because it did not bruise easily. The same source says its size made it undesirable as a main commercial crop, but still worth attention for very early use. [S2]

The South Dakota account adds more grower detail. A. Norby described it as a good grower and fairly productive, with round yellowish red fruit that was very sweet and good out of hand, though too small and quite subject to pockets. A later note again says the fruit ripened with Odegard and could rot some. These remarks suggest promise for earliness and sweetness, but less reliability where pocketing and rot are serious problems. [S2]

A different Prairie Canada source lists Early Minnesota among apples. It describes fruit that is green and lightly or slightly flushed dull red, with oily or dry skin depending on the scan reading, and says it keeps until February. That entry also ties the name to Rosthern testing in the 1930s and gives shorthand hardiness and performance codes, but it provides no origin story or fuller tree description. [S1]

This appears to be a name collision, not a settled monograph. The strongest narrative evidence supports Early Minnesota as an early Americana plum from Minnesota with small sweet fruit and hardy, productive growth. But Prairie Canadian apple records also preserve Early Minnesota as an apple name with long keeping ability. These should be treated as separate cultivars unless later source work shows they are linked. [S1] [S2]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: Plums in South Dakota

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

Featured source descriptions

“Found wild by Joseph Wood of Windom, Minnesota.”
— ^[1]

“Ref WCSH 1949, B' lodge test 1948. FB2 H3.”
— ^[2]

“Oily skin.”
— ^[2]

“The tree is described as hardy.”
— ^[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

• Early Minnesota ST Fruit green, lightly flushed dull red, oily skin. Keeps till February. Rosthern test 1930s. Ref WCSH 1949, B'lodge test 1948. FB2 H3.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p26
• Early Minnesota ST Fruit green, lightly flushed dull red, oily skin. Keeps till February. Rosthern test 1930s. Ref WCSH 1949, B'lodge test 1948. FB2 H3.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p26
• Early Minnesota ST Fruit green, lightly flushed dull red, oily skin. Keeps till February. Rosthern test 1930s. Ref WCSH 1949, B'lodge test 1948. FB2 H3.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p26
• Early Minnesota ST Fruit green, lightly flushed dull red, oily skin. Keeps till February. Rosthern test 1930s. Ref WCSH 1949, B'lodge test 1948. FB2 H3.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p26

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context