Burbank thought it was the best of all his plums…
‘Beauty’ was described as “the product of a very complicated heredity including several species” (Howard, 1945). It was introduced 1911 (Butterfield, 1938). Trees are self-fertile and bear prolifically. Fruit are medium size and heart-shaped; skin is crimson covered with white dots; flesh is amber streaked with scarlet (Allen, 1929). Fruits are very attractive; it was regarded in the 1920s as the best early plum for shipping (Wickson, 1926). Burbank considered it “perhaps the best of all” his plums (Burbank, 1914), and it is still appreciated by connoisseurs. Beauty is one of the earliest ripening of Burbank’s releases, ripening 1 to 15 June in Fresno, 7 to 10 d before Santa Rosa. In the early 1940s, 200,000 to 250,000 crates were shipped annually from California (Howard, 1945); it is no longer grown commercially but is a home garden favorite.
