Cultivar 423: Marcus

Marcus is an americana plum selected from wild seedling stock in northwestern Iowa. It originated with M. E. Hinkley at Marcus, Iowa. The South Dakota bulletin treats it as one of the best of his many seedlings for commercial use because of its size and quality. Hinkley later wrote that Marcus and Pilot were chosen from a large seedling population grown from wild plum seed he collected along the Little Sioux River in 1870.[S1]

The fruit was described as large, very handsome, bright red, and glossy, with fairly good quality and a small clingstone pit.[S1] A Minnesota horticultural report quoted in the bulletin adds that it was deep red even while still hard, a little later than De Soto, and able to stay in condition for marketing for a long time.[S1] In South Dakota it was ripe on September 15, 1904, and was also described as a good keeper.[S1]

Marcus appears to have been valued for utility as well as appearance. The trees were described as strong growers and heavy bearers, and the variety generally bore heavily.[S1] The bulletin judged it rather late for that locality and suggested it would probably suit the southern part of the state better.[S1] In this trial context, Marcus was one of the later native plums rather than one of the earliest sorts.[S1]

Historically, Marcus is a named selection from a broad wild seedling population rather than a controlled cross.[S1] It represents the older Midwestern practice of finding superior native type plums from large seedling lots, then keeping the few that combined size, quality, bearing, and market durability.[S1] The bulletin also includes Marcus in its plate of native plums from the 1904 crop, showing that it was considered worth illustrating alongside other notable selections.[S1]

Direct hardiness language is not given in the cited entry.[S1] Its documented origin in northwestern Iowa, testing in South Dakota, and favorable comment from southwest Minnesota place it in the upper Midwest native plum context, but the same source also warns that it was somewhat late for the South Dakota site where it was observed.[S1]

Summary source basis

• S1: Plums in South Dakota

This summary currently draws chiefly from Plums in South Dakota.

Featured source descriptions

“M. E. Hinkley wrote on March 27, 1905 that Pilot and Marcus originated from seed he planted in the fall of 1870 after collecting wild plum seed along the Little Sioux River, six miles south of Cherokee, Iowa.”
— ^[1]

“Hinkley reported that from 200 to 300 seedlings, at least 75 distinct varieties fruited, and he selected Marcus and Pilot as the two best for commercial purposes because of size and quality.”
— ^[1]

“The pit is small and cling.”
— ^[1]

“The fruit is of fairly good quality.”
— ^[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

• Marcus, americana.Plums in South Dakota, p25
• Marcus, americana.Plums in South Dakota, p25
• Marcus, americana.Plums in South Dakota, p25
• Marcus, americana.Plums in South Dakota, p25

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context