Cultivar 434: Odegard

Odegard is a hardy northern plum recorded as a nigra type. It was selected from pits from Zumbro Falls in Wabasha County, Minnesota, and grown out near Brookings, South Dakota. H. T. Odegard of Brookings introduced it after buying some of the seedlings as one year old trees. South Dakota sources describe it as a large, early, productive plum worth trying under prairie conditions. [S3]

The clearest history is local, not from a formal breeding program. A South Dakota bulletin says the variety originated near Brookings from Minnesota seed and then entered cultivation through H. T. Odegard. Later station and grower reports show it being tested on native plum roots and on sand cherry stock in South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota. This places Odegard in the early northern plains search for productive plums that could bear well in short seasons and severe exposure. [S2] [S3]

Sources describe the fruit as a long plum about 1 1/8 by 1 1/2 inches, with good quality and strong kitchen value. A. Norby rated it very nearly equal to Cheney for cooking and canning, and later called it good for any use. He also called it the best large early plum he had tested there before scab became a serious problem. A North Dakota report described the fruit as very attractive and a little over 1 5/8 inches in diameter. [S2] [S3]

At the South Dakota station, it ripened in late August, with recorded dates of August 26 in 1902, August 29 in 1903, and August 30 in 1904, though favorable seasons could bring it on as much as ten days earlier. Norby reported it ripe by August 18 in 1902. The same sources consistently stress its earliness, and one grower in south central North Dakota reported that it ripened at a site north of his own planting. Odegard was also listed among plums grown in St. Charles, Manitoba. [S3]

The tree was a strong grower and an early, heavy bearer. In the young station orchard, trees on native plum roots were early and good bearers, and Norby wrote that Odegard would bear twice as much fruit as Aitkin of the same age. Heavy crops could become a structural problem. The tree needed pruning for a more compact habit because wind whipped the long limbs, and on sand cherry stock the tops could become too heavy for the root system, causing trees to sag or lean to one side. One South Dakota grower called the trees vigorous and full of fruit, but too top heavy for such light roots. [S2] [S3]

Its hardiness is supported more by geography and field performance than by zone language. Odegard was recommended in South Dakota on northern native plum roots, came through winter in very good shape at the North Dakota Experiment Station, and was reported ripening in south central North Dakota and present in Manitoba plantings. The same evidence shows that performance depended on stock and site. On sand cherry roots it could winter and fruit well, but some trees died in southeastern Minnesota, and several reports judged sand cherry too light a stock for its heavy top. [S1] [S2] [S3]

Odegard matters in the archive as an early prairie plum tied to Prunus nigra material moving from Minnesota into South Dakota selection work. The record does not give direct parentage beyond seedling origin, but it does place Odegard among the northern named plums valued for earliness, size, and crop load. It was remembered not as a novelty, but as a serious working plum for cooking, canning, and northern trial, later complicated by scab, fruit rot, and pocket disease. [S1] [S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: A Study of Northwestern Apples
• S2: The Western Sand Cherry
• S3: Plums in South Dakota

This summary currently draws chiefly from The Western Sand Cherry, with 1 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“At Washta, Iowa, the trees would then caliber a little over two inches in the stem.”
— ^[3]

“In Lord's report, the Odegard died.”
— ^[3]

“The Odegard plums passed the winter in very good shape and were blossoming freely.”
— ^[3]

“At Vermillion, neither the Odegard trees on Sand Cherry roots nor comparison trees on native plum roots had blossomed.”
— ^[3]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

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Derived or downstream cultivar links

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Source-story quotations

• Odegard, nigra. HISTORY.-Originated near Brookings, South Dakota, from a lot of pits received from Zumbro Falls; Wabasha county, Minnesota.Plums in South Dakota, p29
• In the young Station orchard a number of Odegard trees on native plum roots have proven early and good bearers.Plums in South Dakota, p30
• In the young Station orchard a number of Odegard trees on native plum roots have proven early and good bearers.Plums in South Dakota, p30
• In the young Station orchard a number of Odegard trees on native plum roots have proven early and good bearers.Plums in South Dakota, p30

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context